Recently, my home YMCA has decided to band the use of Noodles during family/open swim times. They cite the floating foam (which can be used as a reaching assist, be used as an instructional aid, fun "thingy", etc. if used properly) as a "safety hazard". Not only is the ban news to me, so is the "hazard" label. Our pool always has at least 2 lifeguards (for a 6 lane, 25 yd pool) during the open swim times and requires that parents/guardians remain in the immediate area - if not in the pool - with their children.
I think my aquatics department has been hijacked by two non-swimmers who are too busy making up crimes to focus on real issues such as inceased times/lanes for competitive swimmers, monitoring pool temps & chemicals, etc.
My questions are:
How many other facilities have banned such fun floating objects?
What types/kinds of accidents have you experienced with the Noodle?
Do you think they have a basis for their decision?
ps. The facility stocks and uses the banned items during swim lessons and exercise classes.
Whenever I race, I sign a liability waiver. Nope, they didn't want to hear that either.:frustrated:
Waivers aren't worth the paper they're written on. ;)
Happily, our summer swim league pool bans non-potty trained kids from the main pool and restricts them to the kids' pools. However, we did have an incident last summer where a poo was discovered floating in the big kid pool. Shut down a swim meet. Poo is worse than noodles any day.
You guys are really big on lifeguard bashing ...:thhbbb:
Whenever I race, I sign a liability waiver. Nope, they didn't want to hear that either.:frustrated:
Waivers aren't worth the paper they're written on. ;)
Happily, our summer swim league pool bans non-potty trained kids from the main pool and restricts them to the kids' pools. However, we did have an incident last summer where a poo was discovered floating in the big kid pool. Shut down a swim meet. Poo is worse than noodles any day.
You guys are really big on lifeguard bashing ...:thhbbb:
