I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation.
I did want to take a moment of your time to discuss swimming safety at TLYCC beach.

SWIMMING/SWIMMER POLICY FOR SAFETY

Please read carefully. These will be posted on the Bulletin Board, on the website, and will be available at annual meeting as a handout. Please discuss this with your kids.

We have one lifeguard for a large swim area and one Safety Director who is in charge of all Safety at the club and follows all club races.

Lifeguard training includes:

• lifeguard procedures to ‘make it work’ at TLYCC
• CPR/AED
• Heimlich/Foreign Body Airway Obstruction procedures(conscious and unconscious)
• rescue breathing
• basic first aid
• in-water rescue training for conscious and unconscious swimmers along with potential spinal injury rescues

NOTE:
The following guidelines have been designed for the safety of all club members. Sallie Foley (Board Member responsible for Safety Director/Lifeguard), Harry Malone, and Sam Otto have agreed to these procedures.

If you have concerns about these procedures, please contact Sallie at salliefoley@gmail.com, 734.223.9079, or in person. Thanks for helping with the new guidelines on our waterfront:

SWIMMING AND LIFEGUARDING:
On race days, we have only one lifeguard. The lifeguard will open swimming on the hour for 45 minutes.
During that time, the lifeguard will be in ‘lifeguard watching the water mode’. This includes:

• Limiting people around lifeguard chair so that during conversation, lifeguard never takes eyes off of water.
• No texting, reading messages, reading at all, making string bracelets or macramé wall hangings while lifeguarding.
• Lifeguard will remain on the dock at all times unless involved in rescuing someone.
• Lifeguard will use whistle for 15 minute breaks and when necessary to get attention.

SWIMMER WARNINGS AND TIMEOUTS
Sometimes swimming and horseplay can get out of hand. If the lifeguard notices a problem, he/she will speak directly to the person, get eye contact and issue a warning. For example,
“Hansa, look at me. No swimming under the dock. This is your warning. Got it?”

If a second infraction occurs, a time out of water will be given by the lifeguard. Timeout length will be lifeguard discretion based on age of child (younger kids get shorter time outs than 16 year olds)

For a second infraction, there is no warning and the lifeguard will apply ‘time out’ immediately.

Examples of problem areas:

• Swimming under the dock or raft where lifeguard can’t see
• Potentially dangerous horseplay on dock or raft
• Running on dock
• Flips
• Throwing rocks

NEW!!! THE FIFTEEN MINUTE BREAK

At 45 minutes after the hour, the lifeguard needs a 15 minute break.

Lifeguard will blow whistle and ask everyone to get out of the water. This means EVERYONE including adults.

• Lifeguard then says, “15 minute break. No one under 18 allowed in the water unless their parent is in view of their swimming child.”
• Lifeguard will post ‘no swimming’ sign.
• This means that even 13-17 year olds will have a chance to sit out for 15 minutes if their parents aren’t there.
• This time can be used to hydrate, use the bathrooms, redo sunscreen, etc.
• Lifeguard will get out of sun and rest for 15 minutes.
• This is standard practice in pools/lake swim clubs with no extra lifeguards for lifeguard ‘rotation’.

This 15 minute break at ‘quarter of the hour’ will be followed on all race days.
Non-race days, the Safety Director will relieve the Lifeguard for the 15 minute breaks. Swimming can continue at those times.

The kids of TLYCC look up to the teens and adults. If the teenagers and adults do wild horseplay on the dock, flips off the dock, and break rules, the kids want to as well. If we all pitch in and take these new guidelines seriously, TLYCC swimmer safety will be improved.

SEE YOU AT THE CLUB!!! THANKS, SALLIE, HARRY AND SAM