January 7, 2026: Your pool needs a sexual harassment policy.
Good Evening, or Good Morning - depending on when you're reading this.
Some of you will recall a few months ago I shared a story in this newsletter about a colleague who felt they were terminated from management due to concerns about sexual harassment in their aquatic workplace.
It sounds very naive to say this, but I was truly saddened to hear this story because I, personally, had never experienced anything like this during my 20 years in aquatics except from male customers. Don't ask me why that's somehow less "bad" or different workplace sexual harassment in my brain, but here we are.
I put out a brief survey across social media platforms, and easily got 24 detailed responses within two weeks. Note: the term 'sexual' caught my post in profanity filters on many platforms, so I feel confident the survey did not get nearly the exposure it could have had within our industry if I promoted it without key/flag words.
I'm here today to share those findings. I'm not suggesting this ad hoc survey is in any way scientific or technically accurate - correlation is not causation. However, if you're anything like me, you didn't think this was an issue we had to worry about (anymore), and that's very much part of the problem!
I will let the data speak for itself (below), but as a key action item: What is the sexual harassment policy at your aquatic workplace right now, and what - if anything - are you doing to actively enforce it? Move this item to the top of your to-do list for 2026, stat.
For statistical purposes only, please identify the year or years (approximately is ok) that these incidents took place.
This one did not chart because I mistakenly used a word field instead of number choices. I can report that it was described as persistent/pervasive/repeated/significant/anywhere/a number of times over a number of years from 1994 to the present (2025).
CONTENT WARNING
To the best of your recollection or comfort level, please describe the harassment or harassing behaviour(s).
"Male patron commented on lifeguard’s appearance to her and other patrons, leered at her, “joked” about dating her, and told sexually explicit jokes to her while she was on stand."
"Inappropriately touched, flashed on purpose in the universal changeroom, inappropriate comments. My coworker fingered me while I was passed out after drinking without consent and I had a partner at the time, the supervisor told me if I came forward I’d be fired then I left and a few years later he became a she and a supervisor."
"Multiple: asking people to stop having sex in public, man offer to wash a staffs feet and be his wife, slapped a staff on the buttocks, mentioned a staffs buttocks, tracking down personal information and contacting staff, showing up at staff workplace, (all different people / circumstances / etc.) ….just top of my head"
"Senior male swimmer inappropriately grabbed my behind."
"Leering/staring, unwanted advancements, comments and insinuations/ requests"
"Photography of young girls. Persistant [sic] asking on date"
"Men rubbing themselves inappropriately, a flasher, and a gentleman saying inappropriate comments"
"(M) unwanted "friendly" touches, threatening to sneak into (F) lifeguards house and steal used clothing items. (M) asking if (F) lifeguards were wearing anything under their guard shirts and shorts."
"Various acts/incidents of commenting/discussing female co-workers genitals, urinating in staff lockers, through to false complaints about performance expectations"
"My SFA was expiring and my manager arranged for another employee to run a private recert for me. That employee spent the whole time chit chatting with me and eventually asked me on a date. He said if I went on the date with him he’d give me my certificate. Feeling on the spot I agreed to go with him as even just a friendly gesture. It was an uncomfortable date so I didn’t agree to see him again and he refused to do my certification properly. I felt embarrassed and like I couldn’t tell my manager."
"An adult male staff member (who had applied to be a supervisor) was making inappropriate comments to an underage staff member, asking questions about when she turned 18, comment on her breasts generally making her feel uncomfortable. The saddest part was she didn't report it until he the was let go for inappropriate comments of a non-sexual nature to another staff member."
"Inappropriate comments from older male patrons regarding appearance. Often “intended to be complimentary” from their end of things. (Ex. I once had an older male tell me he would think about me while he had his glass of wine at home). Comments like these were often brushed off as “typical behaviour” for this demographic, and seen as jokes rather than genuine moments of discomfort."
"A member of management repeatedly touching a female crew leading on the head and shoulders unnecessarily, and calling her into his office for unnecessary closed door meetings."
"sexting, touching, grooming"
"Sexually assaulted female staff including myself, forced himself into underage employees, etc."
"Personal - nothing physical, but would receive inappropriate comments from male patrons while guarding. One even tried to get a male coworker to jest with him about me. He quickly shut it down. In a supervisory position we have issued bans on several occasions, one a permanent ban for a male patron who cornered a 17-yr old female staff as she was walking through the facility asking her sexually explicit questions about herself and her physical relationship with her boyfriend. Another one was from a patron who consistently made inappropriate comments to one of our staff."
"Comments from patrons"
"I was grabbed and kissed on the mouth by a male patron while I was lifeguarding. I was grabbed from behind by a male vendor. When I reported the vendor incident to my female supervisor she asked me what I did to make him feel comfortable doing that. Many male patrons over the years have told me sexual "jokes" - particularly older male patrons. Many male patrons over the years have made jokes about "mouth to mouth" and other sexualized comments based on the profession. A male supervisor told me he loved me and asked me to date him, and retaliated against me at work when I declined. When I reported the retaliation, they reassigned me to a different facility. That male supervisor eventually married a female subordinate employee and started dating her when she was underage and he was in his 30s. A male patron catcalled me and called me princess. Older female patrons have catcalled male colleagues. A female patron regularly asked a male colleague if he was actually happy with his fiancé, and implied she could make him happier. A male colleague grabbed another male colleague in the locker room. A male colleague commented on all female colleague's nipples when they got out of the pool. A male colleague grabbed a female colleague under the water during an in-service training. A group of male patrons yelled sexually charged comments at a female colleague until she started crying. A female colleague was overly descriptive of her sex life at work with several female colleague she had just met. A male patron stalked a female colleague (this is one of the only situations that got handled appropriately - the male patron was trespassed from the facility, is never allowed back, detectives investigated the crime after it was referred to the City's PD, and the victim was provided victim's services). The list probably goes on for much longer and I'm forgetting many incidents from over the years."
Anything else you would like to share about this topic, including news stories, reports or other people to contact.
"The lifeguard who was harassed genuinely did not understand that she was being harassed and could report it. Once it was reported, the situation was investigated and the man was banned from the organization. It had been going on the entire time the guard worked for the org, and was witnessed by patrons and other young staff. I returned to the org in 2018 at age 30 and encouraged the guard to report. At her age I was unaware, too."
"Working in the aquatic field for over 20 years, i have always stated to fellow staff members and now to employees that working in an aquatic space is just like swimming in that crystal clear body of water (pool setting), and that is that most actions are transparent to others; especially above the water."
"The organizational staff that were told about the issues swept it under the rug. One female staff was told by a male org leader that sexual harassment was only between a superior and their staff, so what she experienced didn't count."
"Most of the incidents that were reported were not handled to my or the victims' satisfaction. Because of that, many incidents went unreported because it was clear we would be blamed for others' poor behavior. Anecdotally, the failure of employers does seem to be better now in my area than it was in my earlier years in the industry, but probably a large part of that is that I and some of my former colleagues now have the status and power to manage situations that arise and we will not replicate those failures from our early years - I'm sure it's still very relevant for other folks whose employers are not proactive."
"This took place at [redacted municipal aquatic facility]. The member of management is still employed, and a report was filed but nothing was done."
"Some instances warrant a formal police investigation."
"I did not experience this in my 11 years of aquatics experience, including 8 years of management. It was never reported to me and I did not witness anything. I am a female and was 18 when I started in aquatics."
"This is the worst case but over the years at various different facilities lifeguarding I was bothered by MANY men. I actually remember planning out how I would use chlorine or muriatic acid as personal protection if needed while in underground parking garage pool pump rooms."
"I'd like to know how many people experience this. Especially woth patrons harassing guards."
I have seen an unfortunate side effect of our staff being friendly and building relationships with patrons that they view as professional, but the patrons view as personal and then turn inappropriate. Our staff get to know and see our regular patrons every day, for full time staff and regular lane swimmers, and it can be taken too far, requiring staff to draw boundary with our patrons. More mature and experienced staff are comfortable with this, but others need coaching and support. ie - a regular patron had a crush on one of our guards. After brushing it off for a bit it came to the point that she had to firmly call attention to it and shut it down. However, another regular patron would make frequent comments about the two dating and suggest that they meet up outside of the pool. A supervisor stepped in to shut it down, and the patron was embarrassed as they thought it was in good fun. Most of my experiences with sexual harassment came from male patrons in the form of comments about my body or asking personal questions."
I've left the survey open to further responses here or please feel welcome to reply via email in confidence.
Here's a short selection of aquatic news from the last week -
Saudi Arabia’s Aquarabia Water Park opens in Qiddiya this Eid Al Fitr
The development of the water park alone has been estimated at $1b (yes, billion) USD. The unauthorized staff photos posted here are spectacular.
Town of Paradise Not Quite Ready to Dive Into Deal to Build Swimming Pool
Victorian railway workers' swimming pool to reopen
What we know about the proposed class-action sexual assault lawsuit against Nordik Spa
I'm late to this story, they've done a really good job keeping it out of the media.
Termite company owes $6 million to Alabama amusement park, arbitrator says
Spinal Cord Protection
An article by Dr. Seth Hawkins, medical director at Starfish Aquatics (SAI) and a mini version of a keynote I heard him give last year at SGE CAMP. The research paper is available here.
Lawsuit says lifeguard wasn’t prepared to save man who drowned
This reminds me of every swim coach "lifeguard" I saw on deck in the early 2000s: "The only lifeguard on duty at Palo Alto’s Eichler Swim and Tennis Club was wearing jeans, had no breaks during a six-hour shift and didn’t receive training before a man drowned there, according to a lawsuit brought by the man’s family." Industry standards of care have changed, or need to change.
Theme Parks’ New Strategy: Smaller, Cheaper and Shorter
If it appears paywalled, please click here. Although this article is about dry amusement parks, I think there's key takeaways applicable to the aquatic industry: "Entertainment companies and developers are rushing to create a high-end middle market for out-of-home entertainment—something more exciting than minigolf, but less encompassing and daunting than Walt Disney World. They are designed for a family or group of friends to spend a few hundred dollars in an afternoon, rather than several thousand over a week." (emphasis added)
Similarly, I saw something similar at play when I visited Island H2O Island in Orlando as part of the IAAPA Expo inaugural Water Park Day (YouTube video forthcoming!) Management said "we're not trying to compete with the giants (e.g. Walt Disney World, Universal water parks) we're a different price point for a different audience."
Public Affairs Secures Major Drone Safety Victory for U.S. Parks
This could include water parks.
If you've made it this far, thank you. If your heart is heavy, you're not alone. I'm glad you're here with me to make aquatics better in 2026. It just takes one small step to make a big ripple out to others.
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.