# Jumping into the pool with goggles on?



## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

Our local pool won't let kids jump in off the side with swim goggles on. The reason they gave was that somehow too much pressure might be put on the eye and it might be damaged.

I've tried finding something to support this, but I can't. Dd has learned to swim and loves to jump in. She'd love to jump in with her goggles so she can keep her eyes open and see where she's going.

Is this an urban legend or is it dangerous to let a child jump in a pool with goggles on?


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Competitive swimmers dive in with them on....

-Angela


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## confustication (Mar 18, 2006)

Seems an odd explanation to me, but you could simply avoid the issue altogether by teaching her to open her eyes underwater.


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## JollyGG (Oct 1, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Competitive swimmers dive in with them on....

-Angela

Basically what I was going to say.


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## Happeesupermom (Jan 5, 2010)

I used to jump in with my goggles on... until it hurt really bad (I might have been looking down or something & splashed face-first into the water-- not sure)! It felt like somebody had punched me in the eyes! Ouch!

I can understand their rule & why. It didn't happen every time I jumped in, but once was enough to break me of that habit!


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## childsplay (Sep 4, 2007)

It would annoy me as my kids jump in our own pool with dive masks on just fine. However, I've seen kids crying hysterically at public pools because the goggles have poked/scraped/pushed they're eyes. The lifeguards then have to attend to that child (who's really in no danger) therefore taking away from the kids who are actually in the water.
That's probably where that rule comes from.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

My kids swim lessons have them jump/dive in with goggles.


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## butterfly_mommy (Oct 22, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DahliaRW* 
My kids swim lessons have them jump/dive in with goggles.


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## astra (Jan 21, 2006)

I have never heard of this!!


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## CherryBombMama (Jan 25, 2010)

(i dont usually post here, but had some input)

i was in swim team most of my childhood/teenage years. there is a huge difference between _diving_ in w/ your head at an angle, chin to chest and the water going _over_ your head and falling in face first (or diving in face first) and having the water smack you hard in the eyes!

maybe its not scientific or anything, but it can hurt, and like another poster said, it can take the lifeguards attention away from something more dangerous


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## LaughingHyena (May 4, 2004)

Quote:

My kids swim lessons have them jump/dive in with goggles.
Ours make them take them off, at least the young ones. I haven't seen the older ones sine DD is in the beginners group.


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## dillonandmarasmom (May 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CherryBombMama* 
(i dont usually post here, but had some input)

i was in swim team most of my childhood/teenage years. there is a huge difference between _diving_ in w/ your head at an angle, chin to chest and the water going _over_ your head and falling in face first (or diving in face first) and having the water smack you hard in the eyes!

maybe its not scientific or anything, but it can hurt, and like another poster said, it can take the lifeguards attention away from something more dangerous

Yeah, I was thinking this, too. Wearing goggles takes some getting used to, and I have seen so many little ones with them improperly fitted or squeezing their eyeballs. I can see where a set of lifeguards would come to a "No jumping with goggles on" rule.

And, regarding the diving v. jumping: I usually had a hand on my goggles either on the front or straps when i jumped in, simply because the rush of water was more unpredictable than when I dove head tucked between my arms. Seriously.


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

thanks! I won't absolutely prohibit it, but I will warn dd that it might hurt. And I'll quit worrying about her eyeballs being pulled out of her eye socket.


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Competitive swimmers dive in with them on....

-Angela

Another, "this is totally different".

I generally discourage (but don't forbid) going off the diving board with goggles. First, if they go in straight, feet first, the goggles often pop off which is just a PITA. Secondly, if they end up face planting it can REALLY hurt.


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## LuminosaJane (May 10, 2007)

This was the rule at the pool I guarded at and while I never bought the eyes popping out thing (and my dad, an eye doc, concurred), the best reason I could come up with is that it is more of a secondary danger to lose the goggles when jumping--which happens very often.

The danger in this situation is that the kid who loses the goggles naturally wants to retrieve them from the bottom of the pool which either holds up the line for the diving board (mostly just a pita if you're a kid) or, more seriously, puts the goggle-retriever in danger of getting landed on by the next kid in line who either didn't see him/her or was to antsy to wait until the coast was clear. Getting landed on is definitely a safety risk.

Furthermore, it was my opinion that kids who needed (not just wanted) their goggles to jump off the board had no business jumping into deep water since they probably weren't that strong of swimmers anyway.

Rereading your post, OP, it sounds like your pool is really conservative since they've also banned jumping off the side with goggles, not just the diving board. Kind of a bummer, really, because my argument holds less water in that case. Having run like a million pools in my day, sometimes these kinds of rules just come out of nowhere and get passed down year after year as part of the pool lore. Hope you guys can still have fun this summer!


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