Practical # of swimmers?

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hawkins3

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Jul 9, 2009
26
Eastern NC
Just thinking ahead to this year's swim season since our deck is almost finished! :party:

We want to have a pool party for our daughter's softball team & are wondering what's the "practical" number of swimmers our 24' AGP can accommodate, if there is such a number. My thoughts so far are that I'd bump up FC to 6 just prior to the party (high end of my maintenance range) & do the same again as soon as everyone leaves. Just a guess, but there might be around 12-16 kids at this party.

Any thoughts or am I just being way too obsessive about this ... my water is beautiful & numbers are all within the prescribed ranges. I don't want to mess up my beautiful pool, but those girls just wanna have fun (and so do mom & dad) ... sparklypoolitis, anyone? :mrgreen:
 
For the public pools there exists such a number, over here for example, for exterior pools, the regulations states 0.9 square meters of surface area per swimmer in the shallow end and 1.2 meters in the deep end. "Deep end" is considered anything above 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) depth. Then you get into other sections that stipulate the number of lifeguards required based on the number of bathers. Then other regulations talk about water clarity.

Anyhow, safety should be your first concern, never mind the sparklypoolitis.
 
It makes really good sense to raise the FC before the party in an effort to avoid dropping to or near your minimim FC. Having many swimmers adds an 'unknown' addition of um, stuff to your water. :goodjob:

Your efforts will protect your swimmers and satisfy your sparklypoolitis syndrome!

An ounce of prevention....... :)
 
A quick search for safe swimmers per square foot shows that 40 sf/swimmer is the rule for crowding, presumably for public pools. Your 24' pool has 452 sf so 11.3 swimmers in the water is correct, that is 11 or 12 swimmers.

Now, I don't know how many kids you can invite over and expect to have all in the water at the same time. I'd guess it sort of depends on how athletic the kids are and how many will really want to swim. If it is all girls, no boys, I'd guess that more will swim instead of worrying about their hair or makeup getting messed up. The younger the crowd, the more swimmers. The more rare it is to have a backyard pool in your area and your circle of friends, the more swimmers.

Personally, I'd invite them all and if the pool got too crowded I'd blow a whistle and offer some treats outside of the pool to draw a few away.
 
Besides bumping the chlorine, now might be the time to get one of those oil sponge things - the name escapes me at the moment, but I've seen them on the counter at the pool store. Women, as a rule, tend to use more sunscreen and lotions than men.

The other thing is to strictly enforce the no-glass rule.
 
Thanks to all for your advice. I feel a bit embarassed that I let the sparklypoolitis overshadow my concern for safety :oops:

"Hi, my name is Doris and I'm addicted to having clear, sparkly water in my pool ..."

Anyway, I'm a mother of 2 wonderful kids & would obviously only want to have the number of kids at a pool party so that all will have a safe and fun time! After thinking a little more about the number of girls on my daughter's softball team, it's realistic to think that we'll probably have about 12 kids total with players & a sibling or two. The tentative date for the party is June 12.

(By the way, the team won their second game at this weekend's tournament and my daughter made a great catch of a pop-fly ... her first ... you should have seen her huge smile! They're a group of mostly 9-year-olds who have only been playing together for a few months, so they're still coming together as a team. The pool party will be a great way for them to be together at something other than practice or a game.)
 
Depending on how warm your water is you may not have as much swimming participation as you think.

I'd say the 12 will ultimately be fine. Bumping the FC the morning of and after the swim is a great idea, as is a scumball, or skimmer sock.


Uncle Dave
 
I agree with denisbaldwin. My parents have had a couple above ground pools about that size throughout the years and we have been able to fit 10 adults without too much trouble. More than likely, you won't have all the team in the pool at the same time, so you should be alright. Hope the party goes well :-D
 

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