Swimming Elitest?!

[jks9199]

We have that here in the States. It is not a law, but if you have a pool, you have to have a certain amount of fencing around it otherwise your homeowner's insurance goes through the roof!

Depends on where you are; I'm pretty sure it's a law or at least a zoning requirement in my area.

 

[mook jong man]

I read that in Australia too that if you have a swimming pool in your garden it has to be fenced off safely to stop the children falling in? We don't have that here and there's often reports of children drowning in family swimming pools.

I've been watching the series on the Bondi life guards, great programmes! They do seem to spend a lot of time pulling foreigners out, lots of Asians who say they can't swim and get out of their depth.

Yes that is the law , you must have a child proof fence around your pool even if you don't have any kids.

There were just too many tragedies in the past with children drowning in backyard pools , now a lot of kids are taught to swim even when they are still babies .

Its pretty impressive when you see a toddler getting around under the water like they were bloody Aquaman.

Yep , between rescuing the Asians who can't swim and the Irish backpackers who are too pissed to swim those Bondi Life guards do have a lot on their plate.

 

[teekin]

Where I grew up every weekend from May till Halloween the cities empty and we would "go to the lake". If we didn't have to do something on the farm I could go to the lake with everyone else. We swam in lakes and rivers and near power stations, over falls and through rip tides. You needed to wear light shoes and gloves because you were dashed against very sharp rocks if you got sucked into the rip tide. It took a while to find your way out. We lived on the docks, in the boats and in the water all through our middle teens. Summers were all about living at the lake while our parents worked in the city. I started swimming lessons at the YMCA before I was in school and continuned till Life Guard. I started freezing on the 3 meter tower so I just opted out.
I still love fishing and swimming at the lake. I am very lucky to have unpolluted lakes to swim in less than 15 minutes away and Gimli less than 30 minutes away. Living in the Interlake region has that advantage.

Lori

 

[Stac3y]

I grew up in South Louisiana, where there's a body of water in smelling distance pretty much wherever you go. Most of it you wouldn't want to swim in, due to the snakes, alligators, sinkholes, and bacteria. My brother and I got impetigo many times from playing in the canals, despite parental warnings.

Because there are so many bodies of water there, and because boating and fishing is such a big part of the culture, our parents made us take swimming lessons at a very early age. I hate swimming, but I can stay afloat.

I remember hearing, as a kid, that our city park pool was closed and filled in with concrete due to segregation issues. Later I was told it was done because some kids climbed the fence and drowned when there were no lifeguards on duty. I don't know which story is true.