QuestionI serve on the board of a community pool that has a high dive. We had a fall yesterday and I am looking for safety guidelines. This is an older pool (1950's) and the railing on the high dive does not come out over the water.
I hope you can help my search as I make a decision of whether or not to close the high dive or not.
Thanks.
AnswerBeth -
I am sorry to hear about the accident at your pool. I hope the fall was only a bad one into the water and not onto the deck or gutter. If it was on to a hard surface, it may be best to close the board for now until an inspection can be done. Here is what I suggest you do:
1. Contact your local health department and ask for the person that inspects commercial size pools. These are the same people that annually inspect your pools' water and filtration system to make sure they are at the proper levels. They should have the dimensions and safety guidelines for a 3 meter board that you are looking for.If they are not up to code, they may close it for you.
2. Go to another local pool with a more modern 3 meter board and take a look at the guard rails and measure them to compare the result to yours. Try local high schools, colleges, city and county pools. If you are not sure where to find one go to www.usadiving.org. Click on clubs and then Find A Club. Enter your state and a list of teams will come up. Hopefully there is one close enough to you with a 3 meter and a professional coach you can consult. While at this website, click on Resources, then Rule Book. Scroll down the index and look for Part III Appendix 'B'. This is where you will find dimensions for diving pools. The chart is not easy to read and the numbers are all in meters (39 inches = 1 meter).You may need to find someone who can decipher it for you.
3. Go to www.duraflexinternational.com. This company is the world wide leader in diving equipment.Click on Dealers and then enter your state. A list of companies will come up and hopefully one is close enough to you that does inspections. See if you can get a dealer to come out and inspect your stand and get a quote on a new one. This should be a free service but if it is not, it may be worth it to have a professional inspect what you have and make suggestions.There are also charts at this site on the proper dimensions for 3 meter stands.
4. Go to www.springboardsandmore.com. This company is the number one retailer of diving equipment in the US. Scroll down to the bottom of the homepage for the Contact Us link. Ask the owner, Steve Vollmecke, for advice on your problem.He knows a lot about diving stands and may have some great suggestions.He will need to know the make and model of your stand and board if you have it.
5. Go to www.diving.about.com and ask Woody Franklin for advice. His e-mail address is
[email protected]. He may suggest the same things as me but it is worth a try to see if he has any other advice on your search.
I hope everything works out for your pool and diving stand and that you can continue to offer a 3 meter to your membership.
