July 29, 2026: You're only as fast as your slowest team member.

Good Morning, I spent all day yesterday at the hospital with a family member for a scheduled orthopedic surgery. This was the second time having this procedure done in the last few months with the same surgeon at the same hospital, right down to some of the same nurses on

July 22, 2026: Cyclospora vs. Swimming Pools & Splash Pads

Good Morning, Based on conversations about Cyclospora from contaminated iceberg lettuce (and the confusing back & forth on who is to blame) I thought this would be a good week to talk about the basics of sanitation and what pool water does and does not disinfect. For the purposes of

July 15, 2026: Spontaneous Staff Recognition

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday, In recent years, International Lifeguard Appreciation Day has cropped up as a directive to recognize aquatic staff on July 31. In this newsletter, I'm going to tell you why, in my opinion, set dates - invented by companies to sell products & services, see

July 10, 2026: Sounds of Summer

Greetings & Happy Friday, I'm coming to you late this week because I was waiting for inspiration to write the op ed that usually prefaces the news, and I just don't have any wisdom to share with you this week. It's summer: it'

June 30, 2026: Deaf Lifeguards

Good Afternoon, I know I said I would take this week off, but there's too much I'd like to share, so I'm back with the weekly newsletter. First, a big thank you to everyone who listened to the audio version of last week'

June 24, 2026: Cultus Lake, Camp Mystic, Emilie Kiser & Kitsilano Pool Updates

Greetings, This week's newsletter is updates on big topics & themes we've been covering for the last year, so walk with me. 1) Cultus Lake Waterpark (BC) Regarding last week's electrocution incident at Cultus Lake Waterpark in BC: Initial probe finds 'electrical non-

June 17, 2026: Cultus Lake Waterpark Electrocution

Good Morning, I'm reporting on the Cultus Lake Waterpark electrocution that occurred this past Monday, June 15, 2026. I'm writing this newsletter on June 17 because I wanted to make sure I reference only the most up-to-date reporting, and not the speculation that runs

June 10, 2026: Complacency builds over time.

Greetings, In this week’s newsletter, I want to talk about a situation where a system failed to catch something, while another system succeeded to catch something. The plot twist is that both outcomes are bad. Keep reading to see if you agree with me. I live in the Town

June 3, 2026: NASA Go Fever

Greetings, We've made it to June. We are one month away from the start of Q3 (July-August-September). Although we don't deliver public shareholder earnings, I find the Q1-Q2-Q3-Q4 business & finance system more useful than semesters/sessions (when I programmed swim

May 27, 2026: Mayor of Vancouver wants free swim lessons

Greetings & Happy Wednesday, Ken Sim, the mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, would like the city to offer free swim lessons. You can read the meeting minutes from the May 20, 2026 Council meeting here. I want to start by saying that I support the idea of free or heavily-