Children dive into water safety on April Pools Day
April 20, 2011
By Sebastian Moraga
It’s the circle of life. Only this time, the circle is inflatable like a floating ring.
In the Si View pool, a mass of children, including 6-year-old Haley Hand and 11-year-old Bryson Hand, learned about pool safety.
At the edge of the pool, sitting on bleachers, their dad, Scott Hand, watched them play.
Children and grown-ups splish and splash during April Pools Day in North Bend. Photos by Sebastian Moraga
“There’s a long history here for me,” Hand said. “I learned to swim in this pool and then I became a lifeguard and swimming instructor at this pool.”
With his days on the tall chair and in the red shirt behind him, Hand brought Haley, Bryce and a few nieces and nephews to April Pools’ Day, a daylong course about pool safety for children April 16.
Students learned about reach-and-throw, the technique used to help someone from the edge of the pool, and building a human chain to save a stuffed animal. They learned from Eastside Fire & Rescue firefighters about in-line stabilization and life jackets.
Since a Saturday spent learning sounds as appealing as a fall into the deep end, the day’s lessons mixed with games like a cannonball contest, a puppet play and a raffle for a Nintendo set. Pool staff members were supposed to dress as pirates for the day.
“I went all out,” said lifeguard Abbie Grimstad, decked out in pirate gear. “But no one else did.”
April Pools Day was scheduled to coincide with the opening day of boating season, said Laurel Anderson, aquatics coordinator with Si View Metropolitan Parks.
“So we are all safe pirates all along,” she added.
Sitting next to Bryson Hand was his sister, Jill Berkey, whose children splished and splashed while she talked.
“I thought it was great for the kids to be aware of safety issues and different ways to help people in the water,” she said. “Growing up around here, we’ve known people who have died in the rivers and it’s devastating.”
Grimstad said the games and goodies attract the crowds to April Pools Day, but most children just like to swim.
“That lures them in,” she said. “But learning about water safety is really important and they do gain a lot of knowledge from the activities.”
Parents learn their share, too. Those arriving with infants and preschoolers learn from the instructor and then they teach their children.
“They love it,” Hand said of his children.
It’s not as much fun for the old lifeguard, though.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Hand said. “The pool gets a little busy and being a parent is different from being a lifeguard. You’re watching just your children, not someone else’s.”
Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.
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