Is jumping the same as diving?

Ah, I'm jealous - I haven't been to a water park for years! I can never persuade DH to go, despite numerous holidays to Florida and Tenerife where they have the best water parks!

I agree it depends on the situation though as that will have an impact on expectations. Proper swimming club = more serious, Splash Landings = more fun.

Our posts prove that it's obviously pretty subjective and swimming pools/clubs, etc, should be a bit more clear in their signage, maybe, in terms of what is acceptable behaviour (not sure if you're old enough to remember the old "no heavy petting" signs in pools?! 😂)

Ultimately I think in any scenario as long as people are considerate of others around them, anyone should be allowed.

@DinnaeFashYersel
OP says that it was a family session therefore other users should expect children playing around
OP says the only sign says no diving, it does not say no jumping hence why op was clarifying the difference between diving and jumping

I was only including "bombing" as it is classified as dangerous behaviour and usually stopped by lifeguards

Has the OP update that this is what the rules are in this pool - that jumping is allowed during a family session - I missed that update.

BTW my comment on jumping v diving was about the amount of splash created not the the relative safety levels. I didn't comment on bombing at all.

If its classed as a family session , then they can jump, that is what family timr is for.
As previously said by many, the ban on diving is purely safety about the depth of the pool.
If the are bombing rather than jumping , that tends to be more dangerous and is banned at our pool.
Even as an adult in advanced lessons , we were taught different jumping techniques, it was fun.

Jumping is worse than diving. Makes more splash.

These type of pools are where adults go to exercise. Whilst they might allow children in for a few hours you still need to be considerate and can't behave as if you are in a leisure pool.

I always thought no diving signs were for where it was too shallow to go in head first. So I’d have assumed jumping fine. My pool used to say no bombing but jumping in feet first would have been fine.

He could have waited or jumped elsewhere, it was inconsiderate. I mean I wouldn’t have said anything but I was annoyed.

Actually, that sounds like it's more than inconsiderate, @HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas . It sounds like he did it on purpose.

And this is the problem with children jumping in. They think it's funny to splash people.

And sometimes, it's not possible for adults to "just use the pool when children aren't there" We have schedules and work and so on. Far less flexible than children on school holidays.

In answer to your question - no, jumping is not the same as diving.

However, at 9 or 11 I can imagine they make quite a splash and ripple which is annoying. They probably wouldn't have a problem with younger kids jumping in.

Anyway, I would just find another pool to take your kids to where they can mess about. They're obviously not welcome at this one!

Children love to jump and splash in pools. Why shouldn't they? I am a member of a club like this one and I swim before 10 am to avoid children but I don't grudge them their fun during the time they are allowed in.

But there are surely different sessions for proper lane swimming and this one was family time? I would expect lots of little kids jumping in and splashing about at family time.

most pools will rope half the pool off at family times for kids and keep the other half for lane swimming. Not sure about public pools but certainly at all the private members clubs I’ve been to.

so if I want to go “lane walking” (I have an ankle injury and have been told to do this) after work it’s a time kids are allowed in the pool. So the other week I’m walking in a lane and the “slow” lane is nearest the kids half. They have all the long side of the pool where they could jump in away from the lanes. But one kid came round the short side, right near the rope, waited till I got to within 2ft of him and jumped in. I was hit with a load of water in the face. I know it’s not the end of the world but I’d have preferred not to get my hair wet. I was wearing glasses, and then have no way of getting the water off my glasses. He could have waited or jumped elsewhere, it was inconsiderate. I mean I wouldn’t have said anything but I was annoyed.

• should NOT be!

I don’t think jumping and diving are the same, but I cancelled a very expensive country club gym membership for this reason, the pool was a nightmare.

I think the club needs to be clearer on what is acceptable, and the jumping should be by the lanes, which are for swimming

Your best bet is to check with the staff so if this happens again you can say that the staff say it’s fine. I think as long as they’re not splashing people then it’s ok. If people who are lane walking or swimming sedately are getting splashed in the face then it’s not very considerate but if you are away from them or time the jumping so they’re up the other end it’s not really an issue.

But there are surely different sessions for proper lane swimming and this one was family time? I would expect lots of little kids jumping in and splashing about at family time.

Oh this thread is once again demonstrating that the last bastion of prejudice on MN is age.

Old people are just the worst, aren't they @Hamseven Let's hope they drown - daring to insist that they can enjoy the swim in the pool of their club.

Playing with inflatables, families swimming together, parents teaching children to swim, some splashing. All fine. But it’s still a club swimming pool and not a water park. Jumping into a pool which OP described as full is disproportionately disruptive to other swimmers.

I don’t have DC either and a big group of childfree adult friends and I pitched up at Alton Towers Water Park earlier this year. We had a fucking blast. But from the reactions of quite a few of the parents there with their children, it was pretty clear they didn’t think the Water Park, despite not having an age limit, was for big adult groups larking about and that we should go to a “normal” swimming pool. At the time, I was prepared to acknowledge that perhaps they were right, but threads like this make me reconsider.

Possibly the curmudgeon hadn't realised that his swim session was during family time. Most weeks there is no one there but people ploughing up and down (described brilliantly by Victoria Wood as hairy torpedoes).

Of course it could just be he is a curmudgeon. I swim fairly regularly and I have noticed that some of the regulars do like to complain! I think they treat it as part of the activity:

• swim one mile,
• drink flask of tea
• complain about music/water temperature/other swimmers not following unofficial rules

Haven't had a proper swim if they can't tick off all of the above!

A 'No diving' notice is always due to the depth of water and the fact it isn't safe to dive in.
That is completely different from jumping in. So the man was wrong.

I also think he is wrong about the not letting kids jump in the water. That is the fun in going swimming at that age. Most pools - incl this one it seems - have times when there is lane swimming, and usually times for other activities (water aerobics etc) and times when people are allowed to go and enjoy using the pool for fun. If there are only particular hours where dc are allowed in, I don't think it is too difficult to infer those times will have children jumping in and probably creating splashes. If you want to avoid that, then avoid those times.

Ultimately though - I would have double checked with the life-guard.

I can't stand it when kids are jumping into the pool.... but of course it's okay and unless the pool has a "no jumping or diving" policy, it's completely fine for children to jump into the pool, in the family swim area.

Admittedly, our gym pool is big enough that you can keep away from the sides to avoid being splashed, but even if it isn't, irritating though it is, jumping is a) super fun for kids and b) a very important part of their water safety learning.

YABU and very selfish as well as teaching your children bad manners.

In this case, diving and jumping are pretty much the same.In fact, I’d say jumping is worse. They are both dangerous, and intrusive on other swimmers’ use and enjoyment of the pool.

Children can get quite unruly and unobservant of other pool users, and splash, jump in on top of people and generally behave badly.

You were rude and selfish to speak to other pool users in the way you did.

Nonsense, if its a family session
As long as they are not jumping in the lane swim , its perfectly normal to play jumping. I suspect the lifeguard would say something if they were breaking rules.
The no diving is because of safety reasons ie pool is too shallow to dive in as there is sanger of breaking neck or banging head.

“Family time” doesn’t mean using the pool as a playground

Well... I would have kind of thought it did?!

I don't have kids myself, so I don't know, but if there was a time/area designated as family friendly then I wouldn't expect the kids to be just swimming up and down or practising for their next swimming badge. I would assume there would be a lot of jumping in, splashing, doing dolphin impressions, jumping on their parents and flapping ineptly about with pool noodles and inflatable rings.

I think you were right about what the no diving sign means - jumping and diving are not the same, and the no diving thing is a safety rule for depth reasons.

I can sort of see why the man in the pool maybe thought it meant jumping as well, even though he was wrong - I suppose the easiest thing to do to resolve it would have been a quick check with the lifeguard/attendant to confirm that it was OK for your son to jump. I would have thought that, assuming there is an attendant there, that they would have put a stop to the jumping if it was a problem.

In some cases I think having kids jumping into the pool could certainly be antisocial and disruptive, but as your son was in the designated family lanes and there are other lanes for adults who just want to swim lengths, it doesn't sound like the jumping was causing any problem to 'serious' swimmers. I'm someone who often finds kids quite annoying, but even I wouldn't be pissed off by a kid jumping in a pool, in the family lanes, in the school holidays!

I suspect that the man had mistakenly assumed that a country club type environment would be quiet and adult-orientated, but if there are family memberships and kids are allowed in the pool, then that's really his problem I think.

Genuine question - what do you think "family time" should entail?

I don't have kids, but if I went to a swimming pool session labelled as family time, I'd expect the pool to be full of kids having fun, jumping in and playing with inflatables!

This