At the swimming baths earlier.....

[Rodeo]

Dd1 (6) learnt to swim without armbands last weekend while we were away but with a mask and snorkel. She brought the mask only (couldn't find the snorkel, typically) but she didn't use it and left them at the side of the pool. When she collected them on the way out trailing behind dp and ds (I was already out getting baby dd2 dried off) a lifeguard told her that masks weren't allowed. She didn't tell us til we were in the car and now I've come home and thought about it I want to know why not, or if she's got it wrong. Also a bit that they approached her not us and it left her feeling uncomfortable. Might ring the baths tomorrow..........

The mask is just glorified goggles really with an extra bit to cover her nose and there were loads of kids wearing goggles....

Masks and snorkels are generally not allowed in pools - I have no idea why but it's fairly common! Maybe the lifeguard assumed if she had a mask she had a snorkel?

my local (council) pool does not allow anything other than 'conventional' swimming things....

swimming floats / arm bands / rubber rings / noodles and goggles is about the limit

They even have their "own" noodles lieing around that children in the pool are not allowed to touch... or they watch you playing happily with them for 5 minutes in an empty pool then tell you you cant play with it (hard to explain to 3 and 4 year olds)

So now i take the children to Cannons.... its SO much nicer... CLEAN changing rooms.... showers with no button so i dont spend half the time switching showers back on.... CHILDRENS TV in the (clean) changing rooms , + they have a huge toy box with every toy you could possibly imagine playing with in water.... pool toys / bath toys / watering cans / tea pots / rubber animals that float etc..... + every swimming aid that has ever been invented i reckon!

I dont think its uncommon for council pools to be completly unreasonable about what 'toys' you take in, infact most dont tlet you take in ANY toys at all!

NannyL

What's Cannons? And what are noodles?

cannons is a heath club with monthy fees
noodles are those long foamy floaty things about 4 or 5 feet long - you can sit on them or lay across them

I've asked dh who used to work as a pool lifeguard in the past and he says it's because of the risk of the glass breaking, and that if someone argues that it's toughened glass, etc, it makes no difference as they can't relax the rules for one person and not another.

When we were on holiday I took my dd1 swimming at a local council pool. The lifeguard insisted she wore armbands because she was 6, despite her having her 50m badge as he hadn't seen it. We offered to proof it, but that wasn't allowed as she couldn't enter the pool without armbands She got upset as she can swim and refused to go in and we hunted out another pool in the area.

That's a ridiculous attitude Nikkie! I would be complaining to the manager.

At our local pool if there's a child in the deep end who the lifeguards suspect is not a strong swimmer, and they argue the toss when they are told to stay in the shallow end, then the lifeguard asks them to swim 2 lengths and tread water for 30 seconds.

u12's need to pass a swimming proficiency test before they are allowed in the new 50m pool in Swansea and they only run the tests once a week. There is a 25m pool they can use if it's open for public swimming though.

our council pool doesn't allow things like that eithere. We go to a small privately owned pool which is a bit manky but very lax on things like that. In fact, they have flippers that the children can borrow and you can bring a baby in wioth you in its car seat and sit it on the poolside while you do lengths....

Really that pool makes children wear arm bands! My DSs have never worn them -would they let a 2 and 4 year old in without them?

My kids have never had armbands either, their swimming instructors discourage it.

Snorkles pool I can understand if there is another pool available for swimming lenths anyway.