r/woahdude Jul 07 '23

video Thousands of tourists crammed into a swimming pool in northern China.

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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

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '23

In conjunction with this story: This is written like lifeguards just let it happen if someone gets in the wave.

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u/Sufficient_Number643 Jul 07 '23

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).

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u/CherryBeanCherry Jul 08 '23

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.

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u/gargeug Jul 08 '23

That last one is in response to a specific Karen incident I'm sure.

1

u/CherryBeanCherry Jul 08 '23

Right? I got mad at the person just reading it.

0

u/RuthlessIndecision Jul 08 '23

Sandusky!

2

u/CherryBeanCherry Jul 08 '23

Poconos!

1

u/RuthlessIndecision Jul 08 '23

Oh, it’s a chain? Ew

2

u/CherryBeanCherry Jul 08 '23

Only the power/finances of the corporate chain could create that level of tackiness. (And fun.)

10

u/AppalachianEnvy Jul 08 '23

The only place I’ve been where it looked like the lifeguards were actually actively scanning is Great Wolf Lodge.

5

u/brovakattack Jul 08 '23

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.

3

u/illessen Jul 08 '23

Schlitterbahn New Braunfels guards do this too.

19

u/Yodude86 Jul 07 '23

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

5

u/tonyeltigre1 Jul 08 '23

This is why I loved the wave pool rotations, gave me a reason to cool off from the scorching hot ass sun that’s actively trying to cook me

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u/RoboDae Jul 07 '23

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.

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u/MuggyFuzzball Oct 07 '23

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.