Lifeguards face abuse as pools fill

AGGRESSIVE behaviour towards lifeguards has prompted a renewed call for respect at Geelong’s pools, as summer crowds surge across the city’s leisure centres.

The City of Greater Geelong has launched a new awareness campaign aimed at reminding patrons to treat lifeguards and frontline staff with respect.

It follows several recent incidents of aggression and abuse being directed at young employees whose role is to keep swimmers safe.

As part of the campaign, shift supervisor Lauren has shared her experience working across several swim, sport and leisure centres, describing the toll confrontational behaviour can have on staff.

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children under the age of five, and lifeguards, Lauren said, are required to enforce pool rules, often in difficult situations, to prevent serious harm.

“We have the ‘Watch Around Water’ policy and it is so important so that we don’t have three-year-olds in the water by themselves or falling off the side [of the pool],” she said.

“It might only be knee-deep, but that’s enough for a child to drown and I would never, ever want that to happen.

“I would much prefer having a hard conversation with a parent about keeping their child safe than consoling them if something has happened to their child.”

She said rules around waterslides were a frequent flashpoint, particularly the height requirements.

“A lot of parents will come in, promising their child that they will be able to go on the really cool waterslide, but unfortunately, they are below the height requirement [and can’t ride],” Lauren said.

“This quite often will turn into a big piece of conflict.

“Interestingly, we often have middle-aged men, that have children with them, getting angry and upset with 16-year-olds, 18-year-olds, 21-year-olds [employees].”

She described a recent incident with such a parent that left her shaken. The child was significantly under the height requirement.

 

“There was a patron yelling at a lifeguard so I asked him to come over into a quieter area and he immediately started going at me, like in my face, waving his hands aggressively, telling me to hand over a wristband and that his child will be going on the waterslide,” Lauren said.

“I just felt like I couldn’t get out of it, and I explained to him that it’s a manufacturing requirement – if he’s not tall enough, he’s not safe to go on it and I want your child to go home safely.

“I also don’t want to be put in a position in the Coroner’s Court justifying why I ignored the manufacturer’s instructions.

“Just the look in his eyes; it just felt like he wanted to become more aggressive, and I had to keep stepping back and step behind the counter in order for myself to feel safe.”

The man eventually left with his son.

“My whole body was shaking, and it wasn’t until I got home, and I told my partner about it, that I burst into tears,” Lauren said.

“I did feel like at that moment he could have physically hurt me or someone else.

“I didn’t really want to go to work the next day after that happened. And then it’s the fear of, you know, next time you have to say ‘no’ to a parent, is it going to escalate to that extent again?”

Lauren said she hoped sharing her story would remind the community that pool staff are human too.

“The majority of the patrons are so kind and so caring, but it’s just remembering that we are here to do a job and keep you safe around water,” Lauren said.

“And we do have the training and the knowledge, whether [the lifeguard is aged] 16 or 45. We want people to enjoy their time at the centre and go home happy and healthy.”

Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj thanked Lauren for sharing her story.

“It takes courage to bring up such personal experiences like this and I thank Lauren for giving the community insights about what our swim, sport and leisure employees face every day,” he said.

“Lifeguards and leisure centre employees are here to help – not to be harmed.”