Why the heck don't we just let kids run on the pool deck?
You can't go to a pool without hearing a parent or lifeguard yelling "No running on the pool deck!" So the kid slows down to an Olympic-paced speed walk and still gets around the pool in record time. As a swim coach and certified lifeguard I have found myself saying it day after day.
Last week I started wondering why we care. We let kids run on basketball courts and sidewalks and streets. I am fairly certain that concrete is dangerous to elbows, knees and faces regardless if it is near water or not.
Case in point. This week while I was coaching there was a kid playing on the basketball court near the pool. He bit it and came running in with a bloody face. No one was out there yelling "No running on the basketball court!" It would be absurd if we said no running on the blacktop.
Now before you get all preachy about the extra dangers of water and drowning, I understand and I don't think we should let kids be unsafe. But I just think it is a little crazy that for some reason our society has deemed it unsafe to run around a pool but fine to run in other places. I don't plan on changing the no running rule at my pool and endangering the lives of 145 young swimmers.
But I can tell you one thing. When practice is over, I am going to start running sprints around the pool.
A wet pool deck is like ice. I guess using that logic black ice isn't that bad. Besides, ever notice the guys at the NBA games mopping up the key in between sequences? Water kills.
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