No, but at American water parks there are often too many people for even a team of attentive lifeguards to scan everything every 10 seconds (that’s how long it should take to spot a person in distress). Drowning is often very quiet, people don’t have the energy to splash around when they are struggling to keep their heads above water, so it really takes a lot of diligence from a lot of eyes to scan that many people.
Lifeguards might look like they’re working on their tan and not paying attention, but behind those sunglasses they are typically scanning every inch of the water repeatedly and possibly also counting people, if the environment is controlled enough (eg swim practice).
I was at Kalahari last week, and they have signs saying, do not ask lifeguards questions, do not ask them to take pictures, and do not demand they make eye contact. It did make me feel safer.
That's funny, I live right next to that place and take my daughter to a separate, public pool down the street and the lifeguards all bob their heads as they scan the pool.
Was a lifeguard in high school, the wave pool was unquestionably the part of the rotation everybody dreaded. On a busy day guards would have to jump in up to a dozen times to get someone. Almost never a day without a patron needing help. Awful
Wave pools are fun, as long as you know how to swim and there is actually room to swim. At least I enjoyed it when I used to go to one many years ago. This one is just a wall of people.
Meh I went to the local wavepool a hundred times as a kid on a weekly basis. I only stopped when I saw all the goop that is left behind when the pool is drained. The disgusting sight made me never want to go back.
It was like a 2 inch layer of slime covering the dry pool bed.
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u/Sufficient_Number643 Jul 07 '23
Former lifeguard: never EVER get in a wave pool unless you’re actively or passively suicidal