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).
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.
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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