Staying safe, poolside

D’awvalo Turnipseed has come a long way in his comfort with water since he nearly drowned when he was 12. Today, “D,” as he is known at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen, is the supervisor of aquatics and children’s programs at the facility. 

What started out as a fishing trip with a friend all those years ago quickly turned into a life-or-death situation when their boat capsized. A neighbor spotted the trouble and jumped in the lake to save him, he said. 

“My mom got so scared after that, she enrolled me in swim lessons,” Turnipseed said. 

With pools opening across the state this month, Turnipseed is a proponent of teaching kids how to swim before they find themselves in a dangerous situation. 

Children can take swimming lessons as young as 6 months old. These “mommy and me” classes acclimate young children to the water and serve to teach basic safety techniques to the parents and child, he said. 

“Because they are fairly new to the water, the young kids tend to be more comfortable with a parent or guardian,” Turnipseed said.

Once they are comfortable in the water, he said swim students move on to private lessons.

“We really push for the child to be in the water on their own,” Turnipseed said. 

He said he recommends biweekly classes, especially to start off with. 

“The more you work at it, the better you are in the water and at retaining the information learned in class,” he said. 

Eventually, the goal is to encourage students to join either swim club or swim team, depending on their level of ability and interest, Turnipseed said. 

In his five years as a certified lifeguard, Turnipseed said he’s never, thankfully, seen a drowning in person, but has seen one on tape during a training session. 

“You never know when a drowning will occur,” he said. “What you see on TV is not true. Drowning tends to be very silent. As a parent and a lifeguard, you really need to be on your toes, especially when you know there are some weaker swimmers in the pool.”

At One Nineteen, Turnipseed said he’s a big proponent of what he calls “preventative lifeguarding.”

“One thing I preach about is that we are here to prevent lives from having to be saved,” he said. “Preventative lifeguarding means recognizing what might become a bad situation before it becomes a dangerous one.” 

Turnipseed said it is crucial to scan the pool effectively.

“Right to left, left to right, bottom to top,” he said. “People can slip under without you noticing. If you are scanning only the top, you might miss someone already on the bottom.”

Lifeguards are taught to look carefully at shadows in the pool and at subtle ripples. Children also have a very distinct look on their face when they are in trouble, he said.

“They get big-eyed and have this ‘help me’ look about them,” he said. “We tell kids, however, that they need to scream for help if they need it because we might be scanning another area of the pool and miss that telltale expression.”

As parents, Turnipseed said it’s important that they be honest with themselves.

“If you know your child is not a strong swimmer, you need to keep an eye on them the whole time,” he said. “Kids can start out very confident and excited when they first enter a pool and eventually get tired.” 

Children who aren’t strong swimmers should always be kept within arm’s reach, Turnipseed said.

“You don’t want them to get so far away from you that you can’t touch them or pull them in if they need help,” he said. 

As a parent, one should also ensure children follow the rules and lifeguard’s instructions. 

“We aren’t here to be the strict person or the babysitter,” Turnipseed said. 

For more information on the St. Vincent’s One Nineteen swim programs, go to onenineteen.com/fitness/aquatics.asp.