When can the kids swim without me watching them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former lifeguard husband and swim team wife family -

Never.

I’ve seen fully competent adult swimmers drown. I always keep an eye out when my children swim. I always will.

This question is like saying “when can my child ride in a car without a seatbelt”.

So when your child is 35, married, and living a few states away, you're going to insist that they never go swimming with their spouse unless you fly out and watch them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was 21 and a lifeguard and still not allowed to watch my 19 and 17 year old siblings swim. At our lake, where we had all been able to swim as soon as we could walk.

That is insane. You were an adult. Your 19 year old sibling was an adult. Exactly who "didn't allow" your ADULT sibling to decide who was qualified to watch her swim?

+1

These responses are ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

No one should ever swim alone. Even adults.

I grew up with a pool and even when I was home visiting as an adult if I didn’t have a friend over visiting, my mother was sitting on the deck of the poo, or in it with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I don’t ever want a backyard pool. It’s much safer for your kids to swim at a public or club pool with a lifeguard on duty.

Not always. Lifeguards can miss things in crowded pools.

[Anonymous]

It’s not about the age they’re competent swimmers, it’s about the age they can appreciate the danger and accept it which is an adult activity. Teens are jumping, roughhousing and playing diving games where they stay under as long as they can hold their breath. So easy to hit your head or cramp. And they’re too young to know all that and appreciate the danger. Leaving them unsupervised is irresponsible. Imagine the 9-18 YO whose friend/sibling gets hurt or dies “on their watch”. And anyone with a private pool/lake access can tell a 19-21 YO what their rules are as a property owner.

No, you supervise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former lifeguard husband and swim team wife family -

Never.

I’ve seen fully competent adult swimmers drown. I always keep an eye out when my children swim. I always will.

This question is like saying “when can my child ride in a car without a seatbelt”.

Great analogy to seatbelt. Works on adults with 25 years of perfect driving. All you need is circumstances to align that an accident happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former lifeguard husband and swim team wife family -

Never.

I’ve seen fully competent adult swimmers drown. I always keep an eye out when my children swim. I always will.

This question is like saying “when can my child ride in a car without a seatbelt”.

So when your child is 35, married, and living a few states away, you're going to insist that they never go swimming with their spouse unless you fly out and watch them?

Don’t be deliberately obtuse. It’s just indicates you like to pick fights or drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former lifeguard husband and swim team wife family -

Never.

I’ve seen fully competent adult swimmers drown. I always keep an eye out when my children swim. I always will.

This question is like saying “when can my child ride in a car without a seatbelt”.

So when your child is 35, married, and living a few states away, you're going to insist that they never go swimming with their spouse unless you fly out and watch them?

Don’t be deliberately obtuse. It’s just indicates you like to pick fights or drama.

Hmmm no. You said never. I think that is extreme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former lifeguard husband and swim team wife family -

Never.

I’ve seen fully competent adult swimmers drown. I always keep an eye out when my children swim. I always will.

This question is like saying “when can my child ride in a car without a seatbelt”.

So when your child is 35, married, and living a few states away, you're going to insist that they never go swimming with their spouse unless you fly out and watch them?

Don’t be deliberately obtuse. It’s just indicates you like to pick fights or drama.

Hmmm no. You said never. I think that is extreme.

+1. Totally reasonable reply. Do you not go swimming in your own pool with just 1 other person around? That legit strikes me as insane and many teens are probably better swimmers than you.

[Anonymous]

I find all the hand wringing over swimming pool swimming very strange. Virtually no sober competent swimmers drown in swimming pools once they are late elementary age. I actually couldn’t find a case reported in the DC area when I looked for news reports. I’d actually be more worried about late teens home alone doing something stupid because of substances than two otherwise responsible 10 year olds who could pass a standard swim club test.

[Anonymous]

At 9 and 11, why take the risk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So when your child is 35, married, and living a few states away, you're going to insist that they never go swimming with their spouse unless you fly out and watch them?

PP, surely you don't think that two adults swimming alone together would pose the same drowning risk as would two teens or two tweens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. Totally reasonable reply. Do you not go swimming in your own pool with just 1 other person around? That legit strikes me as insane and many teens are probably better swimmers than you.

NP here. I have worked with teens for years. I agree that many teens are stronger than the average adult, and could be better swimmers. But teens' executive functioning skills aren't to the level of adults'. I think that executive functioning skills (attention, response time to size up a situation, decision-making) probably factor into drowning risk as well as strength.