October 9, 2025: Reasonable suspicion
Good Morning,
If you've been here a while, you might recall a newsletter I wrote earlier this year entitled Should have known, or ought to have known.
To build on that concept, I was recently reading a legal settlement about a child who wasn't removed from an unsafe household in California. The court stated that "county [social] workers breached their mandatory duty to report their "reasonable suspicion" of such [dangerous] conduct." (emphasis added)
When we talk about pool operations, when we review aquatic facility recordkeeping (because you have to inspect what you expect), we see instances of pencil whipping where we have a reasonable suspicion the water is not actually being tested; safety inspections are not actually being completed; and equipment, chemical or first aid supply inventories are not actually being verified.
Relatedly, a few years ago I fired a client (facility) whose manager said "We don't test the water more often [than what is required by pool regulations] because we don't know what we're going to find." Translation: they had a reasonable suspicion they would discover a chemical imbalance if they tested the water more often (due ongoing mechanical issues), and that would require closing the basin at this very-busy facility, so their solution was not to check, know or care.
We're not all living in California, but at least there, the court was very clear that inaction with reasonable suspicion is just as bad as bad actions or choices.
I say this repeatedly in the Certified Pool Operator (CPO) class when we talk about risk management in Chapter 1: it's not "just" commission of negligence, it could also be the omission to prevent negligence. If you have a reasonable suspicion that there's a problem with a staff member, equipment, procedure, or anything else at your aquatic facility, sticking your head in the sand is not going to save you.
They say the kids are "locking in" for the rest of the year, muscling down to tackle 2025 goals in the last few months of the year. We already have enough pressure on our roles and aquatic facilities with New Year's resolutions (wellness January) in early 2026, so why not bite the bullet and start tackling these now? Plus, this activity may also seriously inform your proposed budgets!
Putt each problem on it's own post-it note (or Padlet, you get three boards included in a free account). It doesn't matter how hard the problem is to fix or whether you even know the solution, just write them all down separately. Then you can organize them into clusters of complexity (easy-medium-hard) or resources or even rank them by priority. The simple act of writing it down gets it off your chest, and the mess on the wall is a great conversation starter with your boss or management.
Pull down one each week, and map all thoughts, ideas, and possible steps. Realistically, some version of this to-do list board will exist until you quit or retire, but the first step - of writing it all down - is the hardest.
I want to give a big shout out to Alberta-based aquatic professionals juggling the teachers' strike (as parents, people managers and programmers) amidst the ongoing Canada Post strike. Two things can be true at once: you can respect workers' right to strike while simultaneously being very frustrated that it's a huge increase to your workload and impacting your personal life.
The summer drowning fatalities are finally tapering... a bit.
Woman who tried to drown Muslim girl in Euless pleads guilty to attempted murder
This is not our industry, but it would be irresponsible not to mention this story.
Court: Woman's 'unofficial daycare' had 26 kids at her home when child drowned
Some of you might remember the video I did last year regarding day care drowning fatalities in California & Ontario. In public health, three or more documented incidents is defined as an 'outbreak.' Although these are obviously not physically linked together, I feel confident saying this is a growing trend.
Tenants win big in dispute over Toronto building's derelict swimming pool
This is a very important precedent. I see similar behaviour all the time when hotels take no responsibility to discount nightly rates for extended pool closures and guest inconvenience. Legal contracts exist with your users in the form of financial remuneration.
Billionaire's Los Angeles area purchase expected to clear way for surf park
$15 Million Private Wave Pool for Sale in Arizona
This is an interesting business move, not unlike the speculators who are building retail spaces in my town without signed tenants. I wonder how this will work for the purchaser (on a practical level) since many operators have strong design preferences.
Montreal party boat captain faces negligence charge over 2024 drowning
Not a ton of details yet, so there's got to be more here than simply just the passenger wasn't wearing a lifejacket.
Missing diver likely drowned while freediving alone, coroner rules
Disability advocates call for rethink after Palmerston Hospital's hydrotherapy pool closes to external providers
Situations like this are very complex when public funding is involved. I got trolled on our Facebook page when I shared this article a few years ago: Aylmer swimmers making waves to regain access to Ontario Police College pool Commentors felt entitled to use the pool because "we pay for it!" as though as a Canadian citizen I am entitled to drive one of our taxpayer-funded Armed Forces tanks?
Related: Faculty members share concerns about closed pools, possibility of fees
MOA water park plan clears key hurdle, moving forward
Parents speak out 2 months after toddler found dead in day care pool in the Bronx
I would be curious to know what exactly was said to the parents (when considering enrolling their child at the day care) by the day care owner that led them to believe it was "impossible for her to get out there." Was there an actual promise, or assumption of a promise?
Can an Ancient Ritual Fix Our Loneliness Problem?
One in five girls consider dropping athletics and swimming due to periods, new research shows
Drownings at short-term rentals inspire lawmaker to enhance safety requirements
94-year-old wheelchair user among those buoyed by Enabling Village’s new inclusive pool
Sask. man takes the plunge in 70 lakes to celebrate 70th birthday
I did some work at the University of Calgary last week, where they recently completed a 50m bulkhead replacement during their annual shutdown. That reminded me of this excellent reel sent to me a few months ago, showing the process of hoisting a new bulkhead into that kind of space.
Symposium takes a sobering look at the issue of aging recreational infrastructure
The Ontario Recreation Facilities Association (ORFA) had an Aging Recreation Infrastructure Symposium this week that I found about too late to attend. However, I do want to share this exhaustive compendium of sites by type (e.g. ice, pool, park, etc.) both in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada that could be used by anyone making a business case for increased spending for lifecycle maintenance.
Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians. I will be in the office all weekend for a new facility permit documentation deadline, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you, too, are in the office, or have a "water emergency" as my husband calls it.
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.
P.S. You can listen to an audio version of last week's newsletter here.