BEAUMONT, Texas — The pools are getting crowded as temps rise and your swimsuit color could be the difference between life and death.
D'Angelo Thibodeaux is the owner and head lifeguarding instructor at Healing Waters Aquatics in Beaumont. He recommends bright, flashy and fluorescent colors.
"So, if you were swimming in a backyard pool and you wore something that was like a teal or like a light blue, it might blend in with the color of the pool. So, you may not be able to see the person that’s swimming," Thibodeaux said.
Thibodeaux says the color of your swimsuit can save your life.
Kelsea Roberts is a certified lifeguard graduating from Healing Waters Aquatics. She's been lifeguarding for four years and agrees that it is easier to see people wearing brighter colors in the water.
"Right here off this peninsula they slip into like five or six feet, but it does help when they wear brighter colors and not really darker colors. Cause it's easier to spot someone in you know a neon or like a lime green swim shorts, or you know bathing suit," Roberts said.
In 2021, ALIVE Solutions, Inc. demonstrated the visibility of bathing suit colors in a light water pool, versus a darker water pool and a lake.
It shows the colors white, black and blue being the least visible in the water.
The first step of course, is learning how to swim.
"You’re never too old to learn how to swim. My oldest student was 84 years old," Thibodeaux said.
Thibodeaux says learning how to swim at a young age helps kids get over their fear of water.
"Drownings happen more to younger children, so once you start teaching your children how to swim your survival rates increase tremendously," he said.
There are so many ways to enjoy swimming, such as treading water, bobbing, submerging underwater and coming back up.
"We're teaching kids how to enjoy the water, but how to be safe in on and around the water," Thibodeaux said. "We want them to know how to assist in rescuing someone else. If someone else falls into the water. We're teaching kids how to float and survive for themselves."
But no matter how good of a swimmer your child is, or how bright their swimsuit, you should still always keep an eye out for them at a crowded pool.
“I️ would advise the parents to also keep their head on a swivel. Make sure they have a head count if they have a big family. Or just make sure that their kids are playing in an area where they can reach them, and see them," Roberts said.