Pool rule: Don’t drink and dive

BROOKINGS – Most swimmers and boaters know that alcohol and water don’t mix, but the old adage was proven once again this week at the Hillcrest pool.

Lifeguards had to vacate the 50-meter pool briefly and summon an ambulance Wednesday afternoon when one of the aquatic center’s adult patrons – who had been drinking – smacked his head on the diving board and fell into the pool.

The man was taken to the Brookings hospital where he was treated and released.

He and another adult man apparently had been drinking prior to visiting the pool, and the accident occurred when the victim misjudged the distance as he attempted a dive from the high board and struck his head. He also injured his back in the fall, scraping it on the board.

When pool attendants learned the men had been drinking and were inebriated, they banned them from the facility.

The Hillcrest Aquatic Center has a specific prohibition against patrons entering the pool while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Because there is no city ordinance prohibiting public intoxication, the men were not cited by police, and their names were not publicly released.