To be fuming with lifeguard/safe guarding officer at gym

[Dinoswearunderpants]

I'm beyond livid and just wondering if I should see things from a different point of view.

My DS is 2 and has been taking swimming lessons since 8 weeks old at our local gym.

I take him swimming 2-3 times a week as he loves the water. It's a great activity for him.

He swims without arm bands for a short distance 3-5 meters then holds onto me or the side of the pool.

He loves swimming, extremely confident and understands the safety in the water i.e never goes to the water without an adult, holds onto the side or adult when in the water.

I took him today and was approached by a lifeguard (who also said she's the safe guarding officer) I've never seen before who said she was 'deeply concerned' about him swimming and him drinking too much water.

I explained we take lessons here and he is holding his breath for the 3-5 meters he's swimming. He wasn't coughing or in any distress.

He would jump in from the side, swim to me, I'd hold him an explain he needs to wait a moment (so he can catch his breath) then he'd swim to the side and jump back in. All this done on his own accord and a big smile on his face.

I asked the lady to speak with his swim instructor, who was there at the time. She said she'd spoken to another lifeguard who had concerns.

Both lifeguards don't have kids and are in their early 20s.

I explained what happened to the swim instructor and her words were 'I'm disgusted they said something, I'm so sorry'.

I appreciate not many 2 years can swim however he can as I've always wanted to ensure he's safe in the water.

I think I'm going to raise a complaint as they say no evidence of distress. My son wasn't coughing or anything. He was having a great time as he usually does.

It makes me not want to take him there any more but I'm still tied into a contract with them.

Thank you for providing a valid response. I will take onboard what you've said. Finally some decent response without being bitchy.

You mean 'finally someone has said what I want to hear'

They learn the basics first before being able to actually swim which is being able get to the surface and to float. Which are important life skills and why swimming instructors tell parents to dunk they’re child under water. When doing water sports in open water life jackets have to be worn anyway. You would be very silly not to wear one. They also do safe swim with children in open water.

What exactly was the outcome of your dialogue with them after they said they were deeply concerned? How did the conversation end ?
I’m asking as something must have been said by the life guard /safe guarding officer for such a strong reaction from you as to not want to go again when your baby son clearly loves his sessions in the water.
Did she argue her point and not accept your explanation that you felt he was safe as he was smiling and hadn’t swallowed water or choking ? Was she intimidating ?
If you have back-up from the swim instructor, I think you should discuss the exact concerns with her and take it from there. It would be sad to stop going If your little one enjoys it and you are always there to keep him safe.

I'm beyond livid and just wondering if I should see things from a different point of view.

Or not 🤣

She said she was disgusted in the colleagues opinion 🤥 and then everyone clapped

Many, if not most, lifeguards will have spent all of their young years in swim clubs, and will have more experience of safe swimming than you - yes, even the young ones. They can also qualify at 16, so a 20 year old may well be quite experienced. Just because you haven't seen them before doesn't mean they are inexperienced and don't know what they are talking about. They absolutely did the right thing in raising a concern. The swim instructor was completely unprofessional in undermining the lifeguarding/safety team. YABVU.

Wanted applauded for juniors swimming ability and agreement that qualified lifeguards in their 20s with no children know nothing about anything

So you put in a complaint and she doesn't check with the next baby? Who doesn't have a parent who is a confident in teaching your child as you are?

Just be glad that someone is asking- not just you but for every child.

Yes it would be sad for them to stop going but how does a lifeguard know what the parents swimming ability is to keep the child safe?

From what has been described they are 100% right to flag this. Doing water babies as a group with an instructor is quite different to a parent on their own with a 2 year old underwater who most definitely can’t ‘swim’.

No idea how it ended but this is a risk assessment, not just he wasn’t choking ‘this time’.

Letting a 2-yr-old bob about unaided in a public pool is obviously higher risk than doing so in a swimming class. In a class, the instructor knows the baby is in the water, knows which adult belongs to which baby (so if an adult has a medical emergency they know which baby to rescue too) and that part of the pool is closed to other swimmers so there's no chance of someone not noticing the baby and bumping them/jumping on them, etc. Being 9 - 16 ft away from a baby in a public pool is irresponsible.

I imagine OP is the type who demands a quarter of the pool is cleared for her child and would be furious if a swimmer so much as stood near the edge or splashed within a 10m distance. You know the type.

Just because he hasn't coughed doesn't mean he hasn't swallowed any water, it just means he hasn't aspirated.
Drinking swimming pool water isn't really ideal, even in small quantities, is it, to say the very least, regardless of whether anyone has widdled in it, so the life guards did right to draw your attention to it.
At least the lifeguards are on the ball and watching what's happening in the pool.

How bloody rude are you!!?

Are you crying and shaking?

For every outraged mother like you OP there is a child desperately hoping someone will notice that all is not well with them, and hoping an adult will intervene.

Safeguarding officers should be able to ask questions.

And fumming

It didn't happen!

Op made it up to boast! Yet mon of us are particularly impressed 😂

Poor op

Only on mumsnet!

“But now some newbie has received their half day training course in safe guarding, they're now an expert”
OP, you’re coming across as a nasty, judgemental humble-bragger. It’s brilliant that your child is confident in the water, and we thank you for the detailed articulation of his skill level, but the “newbie” won’t be an ignorant half-wit. Don’t you see that it’s great how vigilant he was? How he will have been trying to do his job well, and how your attitude will have taken the shine off his day?
And you’ll be reading this thinking, “Well, what about my day” because you’re making it all about you and not the lifeguard’s job, which is to do exactly what he did.

Goodness gracious me.

I’d say put the complaint in, then the manager will see they’ve got observant staff, who manage to be observant even though they’re in their twenties and don’t have children. Incredible.

Wow this thread is a lot but I just really hope you don't trust your 2 year old around the water. Even though he goes a lot and can swim, he's still 2 and as unpredictable as every other 2 year old. So don't rest on your laurels.

I think you have come off badly with your personal comments about the life guards and so haven't done yourself any favours presenting this situation to the mumsnet masses.

Yes. I hope the lifeguard has complained officially that his safeguarding officer said to OP they were disgusted in him even though that didnt happen

I hope you're not suggesting you didnt read the very detailed OP - the child at 2 has excelled in their water safety course but the newbie of 22 knows nothing

Never happened. I might have been taken in if the teacher had said 'oh ok, I'll talk to them' but you blew it with 'disgusting'! No way.

Oh come off it OP. No two year old has the cognitive ability to fully “understand water safety”. They don’t even have the verbal capacity, let alone the ability to understand and weigh the risks.

I was on your side until this point, but fuck me, you are absolutely deluded.