Pool accidents

RE: Pool accidents

osterber — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:54:08 GMT

As for the swimmer, that is such a sad story... was this a recent event? It was a very sad story. It was not immediately recent. I'd rather not give too many more details out of respect for those more closely involved. -Rick

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:50:24 GMT

I hope they sued the doctor. I am definitely not a litigious person, but that is unacceptable.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:47:08 GMT

* At a meet I attended as a team manager type, we had a diver who hit his head on the board during prelims in the morning on the 5th round (out of 6 rounds) dive. This was at West Point. He was rushed off to the hospital for many stitches. Amazingly, even with a bad 5th round dive, and a scratched 6th round dive, he qualified for finals, and came back to dive in finals. He had a several layers of bathing cap on to keep the wound area dry. * At another meet I was running, a swimmer collapsed in the warmdown area while standing around talking with his teammates watching the races across the pool. An alert guard jumped in and had pulled him up before his friends even realized what had happened. We believe he also had a bit of a "drowning reflex". He was taken to a top-notch Boston hospital for a check-up, and doctors signed off on everything, saying it was just a fainting spell or something. Quite tragically, he died two weeks later while playing basketball with his friends. Turned out to be a congenital heart defect I believe. Be careful out there! -Rick That diver is a TOUGH kid! As for the swimmer, that is such a sad story... was this a recent event?

RE: Pool accidents

swimcat — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:51:18 GMT

As a lifeguard, had two saves in less than 5 minutes. It was also my first day on the job. Kids who couldn't swim were going down the slide during peak hours. I loved the first kids' excuse... "I was just taking my time!" No other "big saves" or injuries while I was guarding... we never had problems at our pool. Broke half of my front tooth off on the bottom of a pool. The dental work will continue the rest of my life (new crowns once in a while and will probably have to get an implant some day). Had someone smack me in the eye during a pull set... paddles vs. sweedes are not a good combination. The eye was black and blue and swollen the rest of the week. She wasn't paying attention and was swimming down the center of the lane - and WHAM! The goggle turned inward and mooshed into my eyeball. I'm a tough girl, but that really hurt. i was cut on the cheek by someone wearing huge paddles. i think he sharpened them on the edge of the deck first. then another time, i got whacked(i wear socket rockets) in the head in a pool in france. by someone who had the widest recovery known to man. lastly , kicked in the bread basket by a fitness swimmer(obviously ex ballerina) swimming frog leg style breasstroke.

RE: Pool accidents

osterber — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:37:43 GMT

I've been in and around the pool enough to have been present for some scary moments. * At one championship meet I was running, we sent a young teen female to the hospital in an ambulance with what turned out to be hyponatremia. (low salt) It was distance event day, and she was doing everything she could to stay hydrated... but was only drinking water, and got no sodium intake. She was OK. * At a meet I attended as a team manager type, we had a diver who hit his head on the board during prelims in the morning on the 5th round (out of 6 rounds) dive. This was at West Point. He was rushed off to the hospital for many stitches. Amazingly, even with a bad 5th round dive, and a scratched 6th round dive, he qualified for finals, and came back to dive in finals. He had a several layers of bathing cap on to keep the wound area dry. * At another meet I was running, a swimmer collapsed in the warmdown area while standing around talking with his teammates watching the races across the pool. An alert guard jumped in and had pulled him up before his friends even realized what had happened. We believe he also had a bit of a "drowning reflex". He was taken to a top-notch Boston hospital for a check-up, and doctors signed off on everything, saying it was just a fainting spell or something. Quite tragically, he died two weeks later while playing basketball with his friends. Turned out to be a congenital heart defect I believe. Be careful out there! -Rick

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:45:30 GMT

Ha, yeah. It stung for a minute, but we were almost done with practice, so the adrenaline was flowing.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:16:51 GMT

I;ve been involved in a couple. One I had the lane to myself, and was swimming merrily along on my back when WHACK I hit some poor sod who had jumped into my lane and started swimming. He needed 3 stitches in his lip and I felt like a huge jerk. The other accident - I WHACKED my left heel on the deck doing a flip turn. Blood splattered everywhere - they had to close the pool due to the blood and fear of infection. THAT made me feel like an even bigger jerk! I hobbled for over a week, and even now, three years later, I have a huge callous/scar tissue build up there. Very ugly in sandals.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:01:41 GMT

I was just in one last night, but no one was hurt. I waas done our set, and one of the other guys in my lane had one more to do. I thought I was out of his way, but he came in to turn amd POW!, hit me right in the chest. It shocked me more than anything. That's hurts me just reading about that; especially if he has an aggressive turn!

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:47:22 GMT

Just the usual stuff: I nailed my chin on the bottom as a kid...stitches. Guy nailed a girl in the face with hand paddles while doing fly. Her goggles split her open above the eye...stitches. Girl split her heels on wall misjudging a flip turn (seen that about 3 times). I've grabbed a few kids in my time that crept out a little to far or mommy wasn't watching...no big deal. Had to save a guy in the ocean once when he got tired trying to find his nephew who was missing (later found, but could not resesitate unfortunately). Luckily I haven't seen anything too major other than the beach incident.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:14:14 GMT

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:11:49 GMT

I did a 100 yard underwater swim once, really had a bad head ache after that. Just stupid to do it or even try it. In college I could swim over 75 yd underwater(75,a push off and maybe a stroke.) When I went over to someone's house who had a back yard pool I'd ask "what is the OLD record for lengths underwater."I now realize how stupid that is.You only have to miscalculate once to be in big trouble,and if you've hyperventilated first you may not know you have to breathe until too late.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:11:11 GMT

US Navy Seals have to pass a 50 yard underwater swim before graduating so thats why the breathing hold practise . There was also a recent drowning along the same lines this year with a young man training to enter the unit in a civilian pool. Google US Navy SEAL drowns holding breath for results The Hawaii incident is here. www.lifesaving.com/.../case09.htm Either way, I wouldn't let him intentionally weight himself down on my watch. 1) It puts my ass on the line and B) I'm not getting hazard pay for it!

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:56:48 GMT

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:21:12 GMT

We do underwater repeats all the time at practice, so I'm used to it. I wouldn't do more than a 50 without taking a breath unless I was with teammates and we were doing an exercise. Last week our coach had us dive in and swim back and forth as far as we could underwater. A couple of guys went almost 75 yards.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:16:00 GMT

iv slipped off the diving board when i bounced to do an inward and smaked my arms. Doing under water swimming is very dangerous. A kid in my neighborhood nearly died trying to do a 50. He got to 48 and sucked in water.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:10:28 GMT

My cousin was a Navy SEAL, a classmate of mine was a Navy SEAL, and my high school wrestling coach was a Navy SEAL--none of them would ever do something as stupid as that. If you absolutely have to do something like that (and I don't know why you would, as they have facilities where they train), why do you need to tell the lifeguard? I do underwater exercises at my gym all the time, and I never tell the lifeguards. I figure if I tell them I'm going to be underwater for a minute or so at a time, they'll just assume I'm okay under there. I'd rather them think something was wrong when it isn't than think everything is okay when I'm unconscious and drowning.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:55:22 GMT

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:24:42 GMT

I've seen quite few and made rescues on quite a few, but the one that sticks out in my mind the most is: As I was guarding the opening shift, the Master's Swim Team came in for their usual practice. No coach was on deck yet and 3 out of the 10 swimmers decided to get a head start on the warm-ups. The lead swimmer in the lane hit the turn, the second hit the turn, and then the third went for the turn...the back of his heels hit the top of the gutter and he snapped both of his achiles tendons (spelling might be off there). Needless to say he was in some serious trouble; jumped in, made the save, and the guy had surgery approx. 3 days later to repair his tendon(s). Pretty freaky stuff, though, to see feet just dangle with no movement!

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:15:20 GMT

I read about a US Navy Seal who drowned in full view of lifeguards in Hawaii . What happened was he approached the guards and I guess showed his ID and told them he was a S.E.A.L and was training to hold his breath. He told them not to worry about him and they did not. He went down on the bottom in the shallow end and put a weight on him to hold him down held his breath till he passed out and stayed down as the guards thought he knew what he was doing even as people told them..theres a guy down on the bottom..Yea.. hes a Navy S.E.A.L training they said and did not realize he had never surfaced. Sad. This is crazy. As a lifeguard I'm not going to let anyone, even Chuck Norris, attempt a stunt like that. I'd have asked him to not do it or have him leave he insists. If this guy truly was a SEAL I think they have their own facilites for this kind of stuff, and he would at least understand protocol, and chain of command. I find it a bit unbelievable.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:10:33 GMT

When I was the pool manager in the city of Toronto the most prolific injury was the splt chin from people slipping and falling in the shower room. The life guards used lots of butterfly band aids.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:47:37 GMT

We have a story at our yard pool were a visiting swimmer, who was used to a meter pool, did a flip turn on her first lap and split her entire heel on the gutter. Blood every where and she was not seen at the pool again.

RE: Pool accidents

Former Member — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:17:03 GMT

When I was a lifeguard I never saved anyone when I was on duty. Another lifequard at the pool said he had 123 saves (I think he was not much of a lifeguard). When I was in Mexico last year there was a drowning at the pool. I came by after he was revived they put him in a stretcher and took the blankets off him, then into the back of a pickup truck. He died on the way to the hospital. I don't think he died from drowning but the after care.

RE: Pool accidents

Allen Stark — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:53:12 GMT

In college I could swim over 75 yd underwater(75,a push off and maybe a stroke.) When I went over to someone's house who had a back yard pool I'd ask "what is the OLD record for lengths underwater."I now realize how stupid that is.You only have to miscalculate once to be in big trouble,and if you've hyperventilated first you may not know you have to breathe until too late.

RE: Pool accidents

swimshark — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:02:27 GMT

I was a lifeguard for about 5 summers. During that time I think I counted 11 saves that I did. One was on a class mate. Another hitting the board with his head incident. He was fine. The rest were kids under 5. Most were because they were using those arm swimmy things and then they were taken off. The kids thought they could stil swim so they jumped in. Wrong! Then I had to jump in to get them out.

RE: Pool accidents

rtodd — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:05:31 GMT

US Navy Seals have to pass a 50 yard underwater swim before graduating so thats why the breathing hold practise . There was also a recent drowning along the same lines this year with a young man training to enter the unit in a civilian pool. Happened to someone last year at the Y-pool training for Navy Seals here on Long Island. I would be nervous doing that type of training without the buddy system.