Aquatics: looking back and seeing forward.

Looking back and seeing forward is ultimately the greatest way to see into our future as aquatic professionals. In the recently compiled survey of the section membership, staying current on aquatic related issues was found to be the overwhelming reason participants choose the aquatic sections as their affiliation with NRPA. As guest editor of this issue of Parks and Recreation, I hope you find this issue informative and helpful. The topics selected for this share relevant issues and trends for the aquatic professional.

Technology is here to stay. Applications of technology will only increase. Computers are utilized in 55% of all work settings. About 23 million adults use a home computer nearly every day (Times Mirror Center for The People and The Press.)

Jim Ensign's article entitled "Employee of the Year: High-Tech Manager Makes the Grade" discusses how the Fox Valley Park District in Aurora, IL, uses technology to manage seasonal, inner city aquatic facilities. Working with the staff, Tom Waller, a computer programmer, developed an integrative software

package, using a mainframe computer system and networked terminals, which exceeded the highest expectations for computer use in the leisure field today.

Fox Valley Park District manages every thing from payroll reports, to identifying problem patrons at the gate, and to managing personnel costs in relationship to gate revenues, while at the same time admitting hundreds of patrons and recording demographic data at several facilities. This use of technology in managing revenue, expenses, and stemming or curbing patron problems is the most advanced in the field. Essential to systems development is cooperation between the programmers, the management team and the district's staff. Application of technology is limited only by the imagination of the users and programmers, and to the limitations of the present technology. After reading Jim Ensign's article, you may wonder what's next.

Intensive Cooperative Effort

Good design is a result of good planning. The St. Charles Parks and Recreation Department's Aquatic facilities are one of the best examples. St. Charles, MI, was the recent recipient of the "1994 NRPA Excellence in Aquatics Award." Author Dave Markey discusses the community's success in "Path to Excellence." An interesting approach, called the "design charette" was used in the design phase of the project. A "design charette" is an intensive cooperative effort for facility development that creates complete project specifications, helps build community support for a project, and meets the needs of special interest groups served by the agency.

The newly revised American Red Cross Lifeguarding program was developed out of extensive research, input, and surveys from the field. The program will be available in September of this year. Author Michael Giles describes the program and its focus. Central to rescue techniques will be equipment-dependent rescues, increasing accountability, and presentations of ideas from the survey data that the Red Cross used in the development and revisions to those areas most important to lifeguarding. The relationship and cooperation of the American Red Cross with Mosby Yearbooks as the publisher of the recently printed Water Safety and First Aid materials has been effective. This relationship will only continue to provide objectivity and quality to the new lifeguarding program, which is currently on press.

It is hard to top the objectivity and regional impact displayed in the hiring standards established by the Northwest Lifeguard Training Test. The Northwest Lifeguard Training Test is a cooperative effort of the City of Seattle, King County, and the King County American Red Cross Chapter. Coy Jones authors "The Northwest Lifeguard Certifications Test." Since the early '70s, this regional test has been recognized as the standard for hiring all lifeguards for public and private swimming pools in the greater Seattle/Tacoma Metropolitan area. These cooperative relationships to improve the objectivity of hiring and training practices will only continue to grow. Advancements in technology and technology's practical applications will continue to streamline our professional roles.

Equipment-dependent rescues and programs will continue to reduce drowning, satisfy needs, and increase safety. Increasing accountability and objectivity in certification, design, planning, and training programs are expected by the profession and the communities in which we work. Cooperative work with our communities, partnerships, and other professionals has led and will continue to lead the field of aquatics to its successes. These articles demonstrate that cooperative efforts used to better meet the changing needs of our communities and consumers have long reaching effects.