Hi all,
I am the president of my team, and we recently instituted a policy after having an increasing number of parents bringing children along to workout. (Usually in the case of both parents being swimmers, and one swims while the other watches the child, and then they switch off for the next workout.) We found a need to institute a policy after seeing a wide range of what parents considered to be acceptable behavior, and to be an acceptable level of supervision.
I am wondering if any of you would be willing to share any info about this subject at your team. I am wondering:
- Are members at your team allowed to bring children with them to workouts?
- Does your team have a written policy about this subject (for example, child must have an adult supervising them, child cannot be within a certain distance of the pool, etc.)? If so, can you share the wording of that policy?
Thanks for any info!
Parents
Former Member
2 stories. Pool decks aren't for unsupervised kids.
1 - Mom & dad are Masters swimmers. Their 2 little girls are on the age group swim team. While mom & dad swim, the girls hang around on deck; their group didn't have practice at the same time. The girls got bored and either hang around the other coaches and distract them, or do something dangerous (eg: hanging upside down swinging from the dip bars over the concrete deck). The pool is only used for club practice, no lifeguards. It isn't fair to the other swimmers for the coaches to be babysitting.
2 - Mom left her 2-year-old twins in a stroller on the deck while she was socializing. Another small child (4 ? 6? ) pushed the stroller in the deep end, watched it sink. Head coach raced across the pool deck and dove in, but the stroller was too heavy to swim up. The twins were strapped in tight. Coach pushed the stroller up the bottom incline to shallower water; another adult grabbed the handle. Happily, when the twins got above water they did a huge gasp for air (had been holding their breath) and thought it had been a game. The child that pushed them in had no idea what he was doing. :eek:
2 stories. Pool decks aren't for unsupervised kids.
1 - Mom & dad are Masters swimmers. Their 2 little girls are on the age group swim team. While mom & dad swim, the girls hang around on deck; their group didn't have practice at the same time. The girls got bored and either hang around the other coaches and distract them, or do something dangerous (eg: hanging upside down swinging from the dip bars over the concrete deck). The pool is only used for club practice, no lifeguards. It isn't fair to the other swimmers for the coaches to be babysitting.
2 - Mom left her 2-year-old twins in a stroller on the deck while she was socializing. Another small child (4 ? 6? ) pushed the stroller in the deep end, watched it sink. Head coach raced across the pool deck and dove in, but the stroller was too heavy to swim up. The twins were strapped in tight. Coach pushed the stroller up the bottom incline to shallower water; another adult grabbed the handle. Happily, when the twins got above water they did a huge gasp for air (had been holding their breath) and thought it had been a game. The child that pushed them in had no idea what he was doing. :eek:
