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Dear Thelma: Summer pool season is upon us. Please remind your readers of proper manners for the pool - especially those readers with children.

Answer: As with all manners, respect and consideration for others are key to creating an enjoyable experience for everyone - children and adults alike. Everyone should make use of "please," "thank you" and "excuse me" as they enjoy the water.

On your walk or drive to the pool, talk to your children about the pool's safety rules and your own rules for their behavior. Remind them it is important to walk in swimming areas to avoid slipping and collisions, to obey the lifeguards and to steer clear of rough play that can become dangerous. Ask your older and bigger kids to be aware of and watch out for younger and smaller children.

If you are visiting a pool with a very shallow area designed for toddlers and young children, tell your bigger kids to leave that area to the little ones or to keep their splashing or aggressive play out of that area. If lanes are designated for lap swimming, make sure your children understand people are using them for exercise and that they should stay away from that area.

If the cannonball is your child's next swimming feat, encourage her to execute it in a location where other swimmers will appreciate it. Balls, noodles and diving toys are great fun, but make sure kids have enough space to use them to avoid hitting innocent bystanders. If the pool is very crowded, leave large pool toys out of the water.

When claiming tanning space, occupy only one lounge chair per person. Keep your belongings in a confined space so everyone has room to enjoy the pool deck.

For lap swimmers, Phillip Whitten, author of "The Complete Book of Swimming" offers some good points of pool etiquette, including that when lanes are designated as slow, medium or fast, be sure to choose the lane that best fits your speed.

If two swimmers are sharing a lane they may decide to each keep on their own side of the lane. However, if three or more are sharing, they must circle swim, which in the United States means to stay to the right. To pass a slower swimmer, tap him on the foot to indicate you intend to pass and then pass on the left.

Wait until other swimmers have made the turn and pushed off before entering the water. If you need to stop, squeeze into the corner to the right of oncoming swimmers so they'll have room to turn. Finally, push off underwater to avoid sending waves into oncoming swimmers.

Even when wet, good manners never go out of style.