Pool clubs are generally pretty small in the Philadelphia suburbs. If someone brought 60 kids from outside of our community to our pool club on a weekly basis, there would be a lot of complaints unless all the members had been informed and were on board with the idea. These clubs are communities where people know one another, let their children go to the pool alone, cheer on their swim teams, and enjoy evening social activities. It’s not a municipal pool setting where there are many strangers. I think this pool manager horribly misjudged the situation. To what extent it was race, to what extent the kids’ behavior, and to what extend sheer numbers, I don’t know. On numbers alone, however, most clubs would have had a lot of trouble with this influx (lifeguarding, toilets, seating, noise levels, and even pool chemistry are affected by numbers of kids in the pool).
***On numbers alone, however, most clubs would have had a lot of trouble with this influx (lifeguarding, toilets, seating, noise levels, and even pool chemistry are affected by numbers of kids in the pool).***
Exactly.
When the numbers get too big, all kinds of bad things can happen.
The pool I managed was almost 150,000 gallons, which is very large. Our maximum capacity was 75 in the pool with a 50/50 CHILD TO ADULT RATIO. And for that number we had to have 8 lifeguards.
When we had daycares, the max was 25 kids in the pool, and we still had 8 lifeguards.
Sounds like they were maxed out in every way.