<p>glad to see it's not just nz that's overrun with stupidity around safety.</p>
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Rio Olympics 2016: Why the Olympic pool must have lifeguards
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Calibri, Candara, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Optima, Arial, sans-serif;">The world's best swimmers are in safe hands at the Rio Olympics, where they will even compete under the eye of lifeguards who are on red alert should they need to pluck a superstar from the waters.</p>
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Calibri, Candara, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Optima, Arial, sans-serif;">With whistles and flotation devices at the ready, a fleet of 75 lifeguards have already been seen providing round the clock surveillance at the training sessions. As <i>the New York Times</i> noted, this might be a sensible precaution for water polo, synchronised swimming and diving where accidents might happen. But swimming?</p>
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Calibri, Candara, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Optima, Arial, sans-serif;">"Yes, it's necessary," lifeguard supervisor Danielle Martelote at the Aquatics Stadium. She said cramps, heart attacks and head-first crashes into the wall were the extreme if remote dangers faced by Olympians.</p>
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Calibri, Candara, Segoe, 'Segoe UI', Optima, Arial, sans-serif;">FINA, swimming's international body, requires its major world events to comply with local rules. A Rio de Janeiro state law requires the presence of lifeguards at swimming pools larger than seven by seven metres, thus the Olympic coverage....</p>
