wavepool question

[waveywonder]

I dont know if this is the right place to put it so mods and co, please take it where ever it needs to be.

 

A couple years back I went to a waterpark in greece called aqualand, the wavepool, Im guessing, by the wooshing sounds at the back it was air system, computer sequence controlled. youknow, the old style, not the toilet flush system

 

anyway there was no rope from the back wall, but you HAD to be in a rubber ring thingie if you went near the back, is it possible you could get sucked in through the bars? when the machine isn't on they let you just wonder around and the 8 or 10 holes are actually quite shallow, I always find those big holes scary. going by physics, because water has to squeeze out the air chamber, that then means a lot of water goes back in right? I was tempted to see if there was any suckage but I was prety apprehensive about getting out my ring to find out!

 

In smaller wavepools in the uk, I remember as a kid feeling a bit of suction. With the bigger ones, would what happen if it sucked you through the bars/grate, would you just hit your head on the top the the blowers are? I find the whole thing really scary bacase you can't see what'a behind the wall.

 

After looking around on google, there's no reports of injuries of deaths.

[Midgetman82]

I don't know if this helps, but it sure scared me:

Boy, 7, critical after water park accident

 

(Monday, July 10, 2006) - A 7-year-old boy was seriously injured at a water park in Montérégie, Quebec, when he was sucked through an underwater intake pipe located in a pool where water slides empty. Investigators say that there was no screen covering the opening at the time of the accident. It is believed that the boy's body was sucked through 20 feet of pipes until his feet hit the pump's turbines. A ride operator rushed to a shed where the pump's controls are located and shut down the system. The child's heart had stopped, but a lifeguard resuscitated him. He was hospitalized in critical condition.

UPDATE: The boy's life is no longer in danger, however both of his legs were amputated below his knees. The screen that was supposed to block the opening of the pipe was found by police at the bottom of the pool. Investigators found 24 safety violations at the park that posed various risks, ranging from falls to electrocution. The park has corrected the violations.

Link: http://www.rideaccidents.com/2006.html

 

There are other related stories like this, like this one in 2009 where a boy lifted the grille of a pool drainage to look for his goggles (somewhere near Bangkok). He was sucked in and unfortunately drowned (how they found his body isn't a very good story). These are pools but they could be the same for wave pools. Just in case, don't swim near the hole(s).