Sure it can happen but then again the odds are pretty low; acc to the National Weather Service, an average of 30 people per year were killed by L during the past 10 yrs (2007-'16) and they were not all in the water, e.g. the most recent (2017) death was a 30-something woman out riding her horse. OTOH, I guess you could argue that this number would be higher if not for the stringent pool safety regs.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Odds mean nothing if it's you

I swim in the Pacific, odds of a GW attack are very low. But they occur.

I suppose the takeaway is that if you are on someone else's property, gotta play by their rules. Build your own pool you can swim as long as you like :)

Leddy - Thanks for that reference. Apparently, there is a lot of confusion over closure or non-closure of indoor pools during T&L. Interesting that there appear to be many more documented cases of electrocution in showers than in indoor pools; I wrote "many more" since the indoor pool number is zero. :)

In summary, it appears that evacuation of outdoor pools, and outdoor water bodies, is fully warranted but not indoor pools.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

So what do the elite USA Swimming teams do in South Fla??? Do they start in the outdoor pool then move inside when/if the T comes??? I can't imagine elite teams allowing many of their practices to be canceled or shortened due to the weather.

Also, I just noticed that you said that your LA Fitness pool is grounded and outdoors and never closes due to T&L. You are the only poster so far to report an outdoor pool not closing due to T&L, very interesting. So apparently an outdoor pool can operate during T&L if properly grounded.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

How do you ground the pool water when someone's half in/out and lightning runs across the surface?

The sound pressure waves would likely deafen anyone in the pool, also.

I'm no electrician.........or meteorologist (but, I am a risk manager).

OK, good point. Apparently, the LA Fitness pool that dirt fighter mentioned has decided its grounded outdoor pool is safe enough that they do no close it due to T&L. I would ass-u-me that they had some sort of risk evaluation???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I know the outdoor pool where I live does. I do not get to swim there due to hours, but know people that work there.

Also the indoor pool I swim at has a regulation that it be closed for 30min after, so both indoor and outdoor pools, run by different organization have the 30min after policy.

Obviously safety comes first. But yeah, I have seen a couple of lifeguards say "was that lightening?" blow the whistle, head to McDonald's and reopen when they get back.

I swim outdoor masters in South Florida. Storms usually hit in the early afternoon during the summer so the earlier you can get into the pool , the more likely you are to swim. If practice gets cancelled, don't get all worked up about it. Northerners may get to swim without issue. But, we get to bike outside in shorts all year long. It's a trade-off and your A race isn't going to go poorly just because you have to miss a few practices.

Side note: yes, all elite teams get out when it storms and the pool deck gets cleared. They usually have to do dry-land until it's clear again or watch swimming videos.

What about elite teams that swim outside??? Auburn and U. of Fla are both in a very T&L-prone area; actually, most SEC teams are just b/c they are in the southeast, duh.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I'm not "all worked up about it" but rather simply started this post to see what info I could get from other swimmers about this issue, since it comes up every summer, and indeed much valuable info has come to light. Apparently, some properly grounded outdoor pools do NOT close due to T&L, as noted by dirt fighter above. And, apparently it may not be necessary to close properly grounded indoor pools either, as noted in Leddy's reference above.

Thanks for the side note on the elite teams; i would think they would move into an indoor pool if they had access to one, but then they may not have sufficient lanes in the indoor pool, or even have an indoor pool. Anyway, thanks for your input.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

The elite teams don't move to indoor pools because they don't have them. In south Florida, the only indoor pools that exist are at LA Fitness. All the colleges and city pools have outdoor only.

OK, in that case, why are these pools not properly grounded, since *apparently*, this will take care of the lightning. Or at least the grounded outdoor pool cited by dirt fighter does not close due to T&L. I guess what we need is a *REAL* authority on lightning protection. I understand that a proper grounding set-up costs money but grounding is not all that expensive and, given the prevalence of T&L in places like south Fla, I would *think* it would be a worthwhile investment.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

It just depends how close it is.
We don't close the indoor pool though, it's a completely separate body of water to the outdoor pool.

For starters...nobody cares about swimming. The cities will only invest money in things that draw tourists. 99.99% of tourists do not come to South Florida to swim in an outdoor competition pool. The Ft. lauderdale Aquatic Complex (attached to swimming hall of fame) was where Phelps and Nathalie Coughlin set a bunch of records and it has been deteriorating ever since. It has been a nonstop dispute for several years with the city to put money into fixing it. Originally they were going to build a new complex. Then they decided just to tear the pools down to do something more profitable with the land. Then, after about a million meetings, they compromised and agreed to make minor improvements (like resurfacing the bottoms so they no longer leak).
So, to answer your question, it's not worth the investment. Not for those that actually own the pools.

There, I fixed it.

You do understand what electrical "grounding" is, and how it works, right?

ETA: so, if not apparent, most enclosed motor vehicles are rolling Faraday Cages.

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no sponsors | no races | nothing to see here

Not challenging you just curious as i am an idiot when it comes to electricity, but AFAIK modern codes are going to require outdoor pools to be grounded with all of the equipment in there. Is that what you are referring to? And a grounded pool would completely protect a swimmer from a direct lightning strike onto the water?

Did a bit of googling but nothing came up that answers that (other than codes require grounding)

http://www.aquaticsintl.com/...-lightning-strikes_o[/url][/quote]



I took this article to my swim facility several years ago when the pool had been closed during my morning swim three times in one week. They looked at it and essentially said that they didn't care, the pool was going to be closed if there was lightning or thunder. I tried persisting but eventually was stonewalled by bureaucracy and just gave up.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

I took this article to my swim facility several years ago when the pool had been closed during my morning swim three times in one week. They looked at it and essentially said that they didn't care, the pool was going to be closed if there was lightning or thunder. I tried persisting but eventually was stonewalled by bureaucracy and just gave up.[/quote]


That was my outcome. I argued that if that's their stance shut down showers and gym for that matter. Someone has a better shot of being electrocuted on treadmill in a building
Strike. Fight crazy with crazy didn't work either. As someone mentioned earlier. No one cares about swimming.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Honesty I haven't a clue. One day masters was cancelled so I called my gym and asked if there pool was open and they said "yes our pool is grounded it's always open" for all I know it may not mean shit.
But it's literally the only place I can swim in the afternoons here except for my own 25 footer.

And your LA Fitness pool is an outdoor pool??? Just double-checking. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Ya, after thinking about it a bit more, I realized that cars are fairly safe, although I had forgotten about the "Faraday Cage" concept. Grounding is a bit complex though, in terms of how big the grounding array needs to be, the wetness of the soil, etc. When I was on USAF duty in AFG in 2009-10, we installed a large grounding array for a helicopter simulation training facility, and I remember the electrical engineer saying we needed to wet the very dry AFG soil to get good conductivity. I've forgotten whether he specified periodic re-wetting of the buried array, which I think would prob dry out eventually. I'm a chemical/envir engineer by background, so please forgive my lack of great electrical knowledge, which is why I posted this thread to start with, to get the best electrical engr minds of ST to weigh in. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Yep .. outdoor pool

Im sure the elite teams swim early. Storms here usually develop inland around noon and move to the coast where they blow up and become heavy lightning storms then peter out just in time for sunset.

OK, thanks!!! Very interesting, your LAF pool is definitely bucking the trend.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."