- Apr 14, 2001
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Will the safety police never stop???
I mourned the loss of diving boards and high dives, now this:
Swimming Pools losing Deep Ends
PHILADELPHIA (July 1) - The diving boards were pulled up in the 1980s, and now deep ends are being deep-sixed.
For reasons of safety and family appeal, the standard public swimming pool that many Americans grew up splashing around in - a rectangle with a bottom that drops off to a diving area maybe 12 feet deep - is fast being replaced by shallow pools of the sort seen in water parks.
Some cities and states have been filling in the deep ends of their pools, and new pools are less likely to have deep water.
The old-style ``drowning pools'' won't be missed, said aquatics expert Tom Griffiths.
``Pools found out people were breaking their necks, so they took out the boards, but then they were left with a drowning pool,'' with children sinking in the deep end, said Griffiths, director of aquatics at Penn State University.
The new all-shallow pools are usually no deeper than 5 feet, can accommodate more people and are seen as more appealing to families. Often they include water slides, spray toys and gradual, beach-like approaches that let people walk into the water. They are often irregularly shaped, because their design is no longer dictated by the need for lanes for serious swimmers.
``The definition of aquatics has changed,'' said Scot Hunsaker, president of Counsilman/Hunsaker Aquatic Designers, Planners and Engineers in St. Louis. ``Today we see the expectation of a family aquatic center.''
Philadelphia has been filling in its deep ends over the past several years, said Terri Kerwawich, the city's aquatics coordinator. After filling in two more this spring, the city has only 10 deep ends left at its 86 pools. All but one or two will eventually be filled in.
``It's not just a safety factor,'' she said. ``The deep ends were underutilized.''
Countryside YMCA in Lebanon, Ohio, built a pool in 2001 with water toys, a slide and a gradual entry.
``We went with our water park because we didn't have any recreational space for our families,'' said Holly Colon, the facility's aquatic executive. ``People are going away from the square hole in the ground.''
Chicago in recent years has built 25 interactive, ankle-deep water parks, said Chicago Park District spokeswoman Katherine McGuire. The one pool recently built has a gradual entry and is 5 feet deep. Every new pool that the city builds will have a gradual entry, McGuire said.
The deep end has not met its end yet. After replacing its diving boards with slides, the city of Phoenix three years ago opened a diving pool to accommodate demand.
Swimming at an all-shallow pool with her 8-year-old daughter on a sweltering day in Philadelphia, Maria Rinaldi said of the new design: ``I think it's safer. I don't think it matters too much to kids, just as long as they're in the pool.''
Marina Rinaldi echoed her mother: ``I like it the way it is.''
Tom Ebro, who runs Aquatic Risk Management, a safety consulting business in Lutz, Fla., said YMCAs, hotels and municipalities recognize new pool designs are safer.
But Griffiths said that while shallow pools probably prevent drownings, it is debatable whether they prevent diving injuries. He said shallow pools need to post their no-diving rules.
``We could be increasing the likelihood of catastrophic neck injuries if we don't aggressively sign it,'' he said.
There are about 250 pool-diving injuries a year in the United States, Griffiths said. Most happen in less than 5 feet of water.
At the all-shallow pool in Philadelphia, where ``No Jumping'' and ``No Diving'' signs are all over, at least two swimmers - Howard Williams, 15, and friend Derek Jones, 14 - longed for a deep end.
``You don't want to just go in feet first,'' Howard said. ``Here you can only go up to your waist.''
I mourned the loss of diving boards and high dives, now this:
Swimming Pools losing Deep Ends
PHILADELPHIA (July 1) - The diving boards were pulled up in the 1980s, and now deep ends are being deep-sixed.
For reasons of safety and family appeal, the standard public swimming pool that many Americans grew up splashing around in - a rectangle with a bottom that drops off to a diving area maybe 12 feet deep - is fast being replaced by shallow pools of the sort seen in water parks.
Some cities and states have been filling in the deep ends of their pools, and new pools are less likely to have deep water.
The old-style ``drowning pools'' won't be missed, said aquatics expert Tom Griffiths.
``Pools found out people were breaking their necks, so they took out the boards, but then they were left with a drowning pool,'' with children sinking in the deep end, said Griffiths, director of aquatics at Penn State University.
The new all-shallow pools are usually no deeper than 5 feet, can accommodate more people and are seen as more appealing to families. Often they include water slides, spray toys and gradual, beach-like approaches that let people walk into the water. They are often irregularly shaped, because their design is no longer dictated by the need for lanes for serious swimmers.
``The definition of aquatics has changed,'' said Scot Hunsaker, president of Counsilman/Hunsaker Aquatic Designers, Planners and Engineers in St. Louis. ``Today we see the expectation of a family aquatic center.''
Philadelphia has been filling in its deep ends over the past several years, said Terri Kerwawich, the city's aquatics coordinator. After filling in two more this spring, the city has only 10 deep ends left at its 86 pools. All but one or two will eventually be filled in.
``It's not just a safety factor,'' she said. ``The deep ends were underutilized.''
Countryside YMCA in Lebanon, Ohio, built a pool in 2001 with water toys, a slide and a gradual entry.
``We went with our water park because we didn't have any recreational space for our families,'' said Holly Colon, the facility's aquatic executive. ``People are going away from the square hole in the ground.''
Chicago in recent years has built 25 interactive, ankle-deep water parks, said Chicago Park District spokeswoman Katherine McGuire. The one pool recently built has a gradual entry and is 5 feet deep. Every new pool that the city builds will have a gradual entry, McGuire said.
The deep end has not met its end yet. After replacing its diving boards with slides, the city of Phoenix three years ago opened a diving pool to accommodate demand.
Swimming at an all-shallow pool with her 8-year-old daughter on a sweltering day in Philadelphia, Maria Rinaldi said of the new design: ``I think it's safer. I don't think it matters too much to kids, just as long as they're in the pool.''
Marina Rinaldi echoed her mother: ``I like it the way it is.''
Tom Ebro, who runs Aquatic Risk Management, a safety consulting business in Lutz, Fla., said YMCAs, hotels and municipalities recognize new pool designs are safer.
But Griffiths said that while shallow pools probably prevent drownings, it is debatable whether they prevent diving injuries. He said shallow pools need to post their no-diving rules.
``We could be increasing the likelihood of catastrophic neck injuries if we don't aggressively sign it,'' he said.
There are about 250 pool-diving injuries a year in the United States, Griffiths said. Most happen in less than 5 feet of water.
At the all-shallow pool in Philadelphia, where ``No Jumping'' and ``No Diving'' signs are all over, at least two swimmers - Howard Williams, 15, and friend Derek Jones, 14 - longed for a deep end.
``You don't want to just go in feet first,'' Howard said. ``Here you can only go up to your waist.''
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