Memorial Day weekend marks the opening weekend for pool season in Fort Worth and a renewed effort to curb alarming statistics when it comes to drownings.
The city’s two swimming pools, Forest Park and Marine Park, as well as the Sycamore Spray Ground are open to the public.
At the larger city pool, Alma Baltazar’s eyes were fixated on her six children cooling off.
She was quick to reel them in with a quick shot or hand clap.
“If you can’t reach the ground, that means you don’t belong there,” she said.
Her perception of swimming safety was made clearer after a near tragedy two years ago.
“My six-year-old was just playing around with the ball and he kept on pushing back and back and he ended up like where I couldn’t see his head,” she remembered. “So I had to jump in there and get him out.”
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Texas ranks number one for pool drowning deaths, according to statistics.
Tarrant is among the top three counties in the state for child drowning deaths, according to the city.
“The vast majority of accidents take place in backyard pools, in hotel complex pools, which are not supervised,” said Andy Macfarlane, district superintendent for the Fort Worth Park and Recreation Department.
According to the city, 60% of children who drown in backyard pools are Anglo and under four-years-old.
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children.
The Fort Worth Drowning Prevention Coalition and its partnering agencies offer swimming lessons and drowning prevention courses, hoping to spread awareness among children and their parents.
“Two seconds is too long to turn your back on a child,” said Macfarlane.
He says the city has enough trained lifeguards on duty for now.
“Toward the end of the season it can be a little bit of a problem,” said Macfarlane.
That’s when he says lifeguards, often high school or college students, go on vacation or return to classes.
But the dip in lifeguards is not particularly concerning because by August, the number of pool visitors tends to drop because of the high temperatures.
There were six lifeguards on duty at Forest Park Pool on Saturday.
Garett Maupin says she has attended opening day at Forest Park Pool for 13 years.
She and her mother brought her three-year-old son Jordan to swim, but she never leaves his side in the pool.
“I’m teaching him at a very young age that it’s fun, but it can be dangerous,” she said.
Maupin was irked after having to pay $2 for a life-jacket at the pool, a policy she believes is new.
“So it you don’t bring your own, you’re subject to putting a child at risk instead of [the city] just providing them for children,” she said.
The city is sponsoring another two-week safe swim program in June.
Sessions begin on June 5.
