In the 1950s in southwestern Minnesota, the American Red Cross offered swimming lessons to area youths in lakes. I was a recipient of such instruction over a few summers. Usually the instructor was a qualified teen-aged girl.
Before entering the water, we were required to have a buddy. The two of us were required to know where the other was at all times. Several times during our sessions a police-style whistle would be blown and "buddies up!" would be called out. At that moment all activities ceased and each pair of buddies needed to clasp hands and raise them over their heads. The instructor would then easily make certain that all persons in the water were accounted for. At that point, all activities would resume. We participants readily accepted the few seconds of interruption that the "buddies up!" request required.
At the time, I did not at all fully realize the safety value of the system. Perhaps if such a system had been employed by the group of 30 at the Cloquet pool, the drowning victim would have been identified as missing sooner and found sooner ("Six-year-old Duluth boy reported drowned in Cloquet city pool," July 21). I'm not faulting anyone. I'm simply explaining the simple buddy system and its use in the hope that groups planning to use a pond or lake in the future might consider employing the buddy system.
The highly effective buddy system requires no government study, funding or oversight. Plus, it works.
Jim Linscheid
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Silver Bay
