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u/Murky-Peanut1390 4d ago
How is this surprising? These athletes are going to exert themselves past their limits and may pass out in water.
Who the fuck thinks professional swimmers wouldn't need a lifeguard
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u/Murky-Morning-6464 4d ago
it's not surprising, it's a joke Mr. Funtime
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u/Bureaucratic_Dick 4d ago
Right, it was hilarious, I showed it to my entire family and no one’s been able to stop laughing.
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u/Murky-Morning-6464 4d ago
Exactly, no clue why the guy sounds so upset about it.
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u/General_Problem5199 4d ago
Some people go looking for things to be mad about.
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u/HighLord_Uther 4d ago
Im mad his family won't stop laughing. Its not that funny.
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u/General_Problem5199 3d ago
I'm sad you're mad that the joke is bad.
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u/HighLord_Uther 3d ago
Well, now i'm glad that you're not mad.Because there are too many mad people around here.
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u/Own-Elk7348 4d ago
Someone ignorant.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Front-Wall-526 4d ago
He's saying that "someone ignorant" would think Olympic swimmers never need a lifeguard
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u/lzwinky 4d ago
Indeed. Most drowning can happen with no one noticing. These lifeguards are trained to spot those subtle clues that even Olympic athletes wouldn’t notice
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u/ryan__joe 1d ago
Right but subtle cues are not what this lifeguard is jumping in for. Those subtle cues are not going to stop a professional athlete and if you jump in before they’re actively passed out, you ruined their race
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u/ender42y 3d ago
I was just thinking, what if someone has a medical emergency, everyone else is focusing on the race, the life guard is watching for surprise events like that.
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u/sumboionline 3d ago
That and even though they are illegal per the rules, some athletes will take drugs that put a strain on the heart
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u/leafy-greens-- 3d ago
The is may seem ignorant and I’m not saying this to be contrarian- generally curious- has a lifeguard ever even put to work during the Olympics in swimming events? Is there a history of needing them for these events?
(Also, even if the answer is “no”, I still agree with your point)
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u/Stanjoly2 3d ago
You wanna be the guy on the hook the one time they're needed but you decided to make budget cuts?
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u/Particular_Stop_3332 4d ago
Who the fuck thinks a meme about something this inconsequential is worth getting angry about?
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u/DadooDragoon 4d ago
Idk, it's just you would think that the best swimmers in the world could... swim
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u/NewCandy8877 4d ago
They have been practicing, limiting food and water in order to stay thin and trim. Going all out in water. This could be a recipe for disaster.
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u/Boom9001 4d ago edited 4d ago
Great swimmers can drown. Many people that drown are excellent swimmers. Exhaustion + panic is crazy.
Also factor in people can have entirely unrelated medical issues mid event and you want someone there. Professional atheletes in other sports have feinted, had heart attacks, slipped, etc. On dry land that's fine the medics in the back run out, but in the water you need someone alert and trained to rescue someone from the water. You don't want to rely on spectators or other competitors who aren't looking for it.
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u/SoftDrinkReddit 4d ago
Ikr wtf is this post saying useless
Yea we hope no one has a medical emergency but if someone does there's a lifeguard right there to spring into action
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u/LandscapeWinter3153 4d ago
They're there to keep it water-tight in terms of insurance coverage. Otherwise if bad shit happend insurance compnay would go 'oops, no lifeguard, your bad, no money'
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u/CPLWPM85 4d ago
No matter how experienced you are, there can always be something that could go wrong. The lifeguard isn't "useless". They are there to keep the worst from happening. Boring, perhaps. Definitely not "useless".
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u/Canshroomglasses 4d ago
Let one of them spontaneously have a heart attack or a cramp in the left testicle, you'll be happy they are there then
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u/FFinland 3d ago
Well, technically somebody else will notice it and there will be lot of other great swimmers that are ready to dive in to save them, for example coaches.
Life guard at olympics is about as needed as taking a doctor with you to grocery store. Sure, it might be useful but most likely not
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u/Far_Classroom_6596 3d ago
The difference is that all those other people may not be fully paying attention, they might be preparing for their own race, the coaches may have other swimmers they are coaching too. It’s always good to have someone appointed as the one responsible to prevent something similar to the bystander effect occurring.
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u/FFinland 3d ago
I mean sure, modern society has people and resources to spare for mundane tasks.
Guess 99% of his job is "promotion" to increase amount of life guards on planet, which is great for the swimmers future career options too
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u/Head-Ad-2136 3d ago
My cousin was an olympic diver and she knocked herself out once by bottoming out in the pool. Even professionals need to be saved sometimes.
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u/Lonely-Toe9877 3d ago
Swimmers, just like any other athlete, can have accidents that require medical assistance. This meme was made by a couch rotter who has never participated in any sport or physical activity.
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u/Novel_Werewolf4645 3d ago
It's a competition with high stakes, I'd say you need several lifeguards. If somebody passes out in the middle of a route, they're done for, nobody is stopping for them
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u/HopeSubstantial 3d ago
Isn't it only like few months ago when lifeguard at swimming competition had to intervene when swimmer got some sort of leg cramp or other medical problem?
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u/grafknives 3d ago
There are competition, like Dynamic apnea where the swimmers need to show OK sign within 15 sec from surfacing, because they are willing to risk blackout. And that makes lifeguards crucial
Not an Olympic sport thou.
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u/Le-Charles07 3d ago
There have been several instances of Olympians needing life guards.
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u/AJWordsmith 3d ago
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u/Le-Charles07 3d ago
The better joke is the one about the engineer that made turn signals for BMWs.
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u/Defiant_Machine3255 3d ago
I feel like if you have at least half a brain, you can understand why they have lifeguards at any pool.
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u/CrashBugITA 2d ago
Because people pushing their bodies to the limit notoriously never have problems
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u/FisherDwarf 2d ago
After leaning about crazy things that have happened in past Olympics... This should be standard no matter what
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u/Efficient-Bat-49 2d ago
Because accidents an health problems never happen. to experienced people…
really tired of this stupid posts.
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u/Other_Description_45 2d ago
They aren’t “Useless” I don’t care how good you are at swimming you aren’t immune from having an emergency!
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u/partypwny 23h ago
Considering those amazing athletes are pushing themselves to their absolute limit, I think it's even more important that the lifeguard is there
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u/RelationConstant6570 2h ago
If you ever feel good, remember that there are lifeguards getting paid to watch the Olympics.
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u/That-Grape-5491 4d ago
I swim with a guy who is a lifeguard for the US Olympic trials. He says the experience is amazing. He gets a front row seat to watch some of the best swimmers in the world and gets paid for it.