Insanity in a Swimming Pool.

Jonathan Turley posted a YouTube clip of an alarming swimming pool:

He can't imagine how a lifeguard would get to a victim in that pool. Speaking as a full-time lifeguard, I can't either. But that's not actually the thing that worries me the most about a situation like that.

If, hypothetically, I were a guard at that pool I'd be more worried about maintaining a line of sight to a victim than about getting through the water. And even that is less concerning than the issue of recognition - I honestly don't see how a lifeguard could reasonably be expected to recognize a drowning in progress in that pool.

Professor Turley also mentions that he's not sure if there's enough space for someone to drown in that pool. I'm sure that there is. In fact, from what you can see in that video, I'd guess that the most likely drowning scenario would be a weak swimmer slipping out of his own float and getting trapped under some of the other ones in there.

What pisses me off about things like this is not the danger. Wave pools are fun, and there's absolutely no way to design a wave pool that's completely safe. I'm cool with that. Taking all the risk out of activities is the single best way I can think of to take all the fun out of them. But that's no reason to add stupid risks to the mix.

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If I was a lifeguard I don't think I would go in that water.

That's a lot of people taking a bath together...

The upswing to a crowded wavepool is the crowd of people around to push a victim to the ladder.

Okay, so it's definitely dangerous, but at least that tempers it a bit; I had as much happen a few summers ago at an American water park, and it was the other wave-poolers that saved me and not the lifeguard staff.