It Does Happen, Just That Fast

We've started going to yet another place for DD's swimming lessons.  For the first set of lessons, we were at an athletic club (not as members), but they decided to drop group lessons.  In the process of doing that, they fired the swimming teacher and her assistant.  It was extremely callous, since they'd just hired them a few months earlier.  They fired them after they'd developed a whole program.  Needless to say, even though it's nice, we will not be going back there.  I don't think much of a place that treats its employees so badly.  And, even though the teachers were absolutely wonderful (two teachers to a six-child class), DD didn't pass the  first level.

So, we tried the local Y.  Even though the pool was wonderful, with a capital "W," they had a ratio of six kids to one teacher.  DD didn't pass the first level again.

Undaunted, we decided to go to another another athletic club that we'd heard good things about.  We did join this time, because they reduced the enrollment fee.  We were happy with the ratios in the introductory swimming class, which were 4 to 1.  And, I've had the chance to work with DD in our own pool, which I think has helped.  This class is actually 3 to 1 because they didn't get full enrollment.  There is a little girl, 2-1/2 years old, named G; she comes with her daddy only.  There is a little boy who appears to be over 4, and his name slips my mind at the moment; he comes with both parents.  And there is DD, who is going to be 4 in August, and DH and I come to her lessons.

Her teacher seems kind of spacey, though things were OK after the first lesson.  We are not allowed to sit near the children.  Instead, we have to go into an observation room.  We can see the kids, and they can see us, but the concern is that, at least with the smaller kids, a parent close by is too distracting.  There is some merit to that.

This Saturday, the teacher was five minutes late (lessons are only a half an hour).  All of the parents were by the kids in the pool, waiting for class to start.  She didn't apologize.  Instead, she got into the water, and started having a conversation with some other woman who was in the pool with a very small child (not in our class).  Another several minutes gone.  We were all pretty p*ssed off.  But, we trotted off to the observation room and didn't say anything.

Shortly before the lesson was scheduled to end (there was no makeup for the lost time), we all came back out.  DH and the other three parents were standing at the narrow end of the rectangular pool, waiting for the kids to come back, since that's where the steps are.  The children are supposed to move along the side of the pool, hand over hand (there's a wide rail that you can stand on).  Or, mom and dad can come over to the side of the pool and help the kids out.  I chose to sit on the long side of the pool on a bench not five feet away from the kids as they were finishing up the lesson.

The teacher dismissed the class.  The little boy started walking through the water over to his parents (he's tall enough to manage the three foot water level at the deepest part of this section).  G was standing right next to the teacher, not a foot away, on her right hand side.  DD had gotten out of the pool, and I was fumbling for the towel.  The teacher started telling me how good DD had done that day.  This exchange took only about a minute.  And, the next thing I knew, I heard G's father yell, "G!" as loudly as he could.  But the time I turned to see where the yelling had come from, he was right there (he was actually only about 20 feet away, and I don't know if he knew that the class had been dismissed).

To my horror, G was under the water.  And I never f*cking saw it happen.  Nor did her teacher.  G's father pulled her out, she started crying, and everything was OK.  I don't think she was under more than a couple of seconds.  But I was only five feet away, and the teacher was standing right next to her.  And we never saw a thing.  Neither did the two life guards who were directly across from where this happened, on the other side of the pool.  DH also didn't see it from where he was standing, because he also had his eyes on DD.  But he did ask me why I didn't do anything, not realizing that I just didn't see it happen.

In my heart, which was now in my stomach, I knew that G would not have drowned.  I would have seen her in a few seconds when I looked away from the teacher (we weren't having that deep of a discussion).  And the teacher certainly would have seen her when she turned to toward the steps to get out.  But how scary that was. 

It's true what they say you know.  They slip under, quietly, and sink like a stone.  There wasn't a struggle.  There wasn't a splash.  And now I know I understand why so many kids drown while an adult is right there watching.

Later, in the family locker room, I apologized to the father for not seeing what was right in front of me.  He was angry at the teacher, and I don't blame him.  She should have noticed. 

But, I will always hate myself a little bit for not noticing too.

Comments

[kris]

you are exactly right, they slip under quietly, with no struggle, no noise. i saw it in one of my sons classes a couple years ago. no one in the class noticed, not even those right next to the kid who went under. i saw it and a couple of other parents did but we were across the pool from them. not much we could do quickly except yell. they pulled the kid right out but it was scary. makes it easy to see how during a backyard party a kid could drown without anyone seeing.

[stacyb]

terrifying. and so true. i fished the daughter of a friend of mine out of the pool she fell into. the mom had turned away for a minute and the dad was at the other end.
it really does just take seconds.

how great that your DD is taking swimming lessons!

[Anjali]

That is so so scary.

[Sheilala]

Very scary. And if there was any permanent damage, of course you would always question what you could have done differently. But I'm with the Dad on this one. That teacher sounds seriously irresponsibe. It doesn't sound, based on what you describe, like the kids should be allowed/expected to get themselves out of the pool; or, it doesn't sound like they are all ready to do that. Hopefully the teacher will be more careful from now on!

[Kami]

I guess the good thing about this experience is that it can make you and your readers that much more aware. It is scary.