Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT-COLMAN POOL LIFEGUARDS!!!!
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August 18, 2008 at 2:48 pm #587798
changingtimesMemberlast weekend for the first time in awhile i took the fam down to coleman pool. my eldest daughter is 7 and takes swim lessons every week since she was 5 so she is a very strong swimmer. In order to go in the deep end at coleman you have to pass a swim test. so she goes and asks the lifeguard if she can take the test the lifeguard says yes do the crawl stroke across the pool, granted it is the hottest day in seattle and there are like 100 people with there babies in the shallow-end. so the kids already have to swim in and out of all of these oblivious people since there is no designated area for the test. The lifeguard says go and then turns her head and doesnt even watch her!!! she gets back and the lifeguard turns to her and says sorry do it again because she didnt see her. and everytime my daughter took off to do the test the lifeguard got distracted. i was watching this all from a distance since i had the babies to hold. by the 4th time the lifeguard was telling her to do it again, i swam over and was like what is going on here! the lifeguard was like she keeps bumping into people so i cant see her, i was like are you kidding there is like 100 people in this tiny roped off place! but with my supervision she finally gave her attention and passed her.But it doesnt end there! after my daughter ran off with her cousins to go down the slide and high dive, i overheard the lifeguard telling her friends quite loudly that i was the crazy b**ch who yelled at her! i thought that was a horrible experiance for my daughter who is learning how to aserct herself to have been so rudely ignored! ok just thought i would share. on the upside she was exhausted and slept good that night from the 20 laps she had to do! and the pool istelf was very nicely maintained! but i dont think we are going back.
August 18, 2008 at 3:26 pm #634503
acemotelParticipantI hope you got the name of that lifeguard and notified the manager at coleman, and someone at the parks department main office.
August 18, 2008 at 5:34 pm #634504
CMPParticipantIt sounds like a frustrating experience, but as a former lifeguard, it’s not an easy job on a hot day so try to be understanding. They should have had one lifeguard dedicated to swim tests so they wouldn’t have to watch the pool at the same time, but maybe they were understaffed.
August 18, 2008 at 6:36 pm #634505
WSBKeymasterFunny, we had a different lifeguard problem at Colman Pool on Saturday and I really am remiss in not having reported it to pool managers at the time, but I thought maybe I was just overly freaking out, which has been known to happen.
We were in the center of the pool, which was relatively crowded, and there was a young-adult couple horsing around, with the man repeatedly hoisting the woman onto his shoulders and launching her off. At one point, it was such a vigorous launch that she practically landed on us … and the lifeguard, positioned right over that section of the pool, didn’t say a word. Could have broken somebody’s neck, not the thrown woman but any of the people around them.
We have been Seattle city pool users (mostly Colman Pool and Southwest Pool) for almost a decade and generally I find the lifeguards VERY MUCH on top of things – very quick to issue warnings, sometimes maybe even too strident, but I would much rather have that than have them too lax. I wondered at the time of this on Saturday if perhaps there has been some change in management – I don’t see too many familiar faces in the lifeguard corps there.
August 18, 2008 at 6:40 pm #634506
WSBKeymasterP.S. I generally don’t edit posts for spelling etc. but I am changing the heading of this thread to COLMAN … for the benefit of searchers as much as anything.
August 18, 2008 at 10:10 pm #634507
RonMParticipantAs a former guard at Colman almost too many years ago to count (1953), your lifeguard was NOT doing her job! It isn’t too late to inform management of the lackadaisical manner of the guard! Her prime purpose is to protect the safety of those using the facility and the swim test is one of those purposes. It is no excuse that she couldn’t maintain attention because of the crowd or that she had been “distractedâ€. What if your daughter had been overestimating her ability and had sunk from the surface, the guard would have said, “She was my responsibility, but I was distracted?†I don’t think so!
Secondarily, she represents the Seattle Park Department and should act in a professional manner. Making remarks about “that crazy b**ch…†was clearly not professional! She needs a “reorientation seminar†if not a firing. Please do refer this incident to the manager. He will want to know because he’s equally as responsible as all of his employees! The pool is there for your enjoyment and it’s his and his employee’s job to make that experience SAFE and pleasant.
August 20, 2008 at 5:07 pm #634508
jbarMemberCan’t say enough about Arbor Heights Swim & Tennis Club! Great guards, family atmosphere, all kinds of team activities. Not the great location of Colman, but still a great pool in our hood. Unfortunatly, there’s a 7 year waiting list!
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