There is nothing better than going for a dip, especially during the middle of a heatwave.
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It was a sleepy household on this particular Sunday morning and the temperature was already soaring outside.
Going through the various news websites to see what was making news, something caught the eye.
Admittedly it was on a News Ltd site …… (yes, it is nice to keep an eye on what is happening on the other side from time to time).
Out of reading this article the phrase which stuck in my mind was: “POO TEA BAG”. Yep, poo tea bag. What the heck is a poo tea bag?
The story was about an expert saying swim nappies were no better than regular nappies in the water and that faecal matter still leaked out from them regardless. Charming.
It reported Biochemistry specialist Professor Una Ryan saying on a microscopic level swim nappies acted like “like a poo tea bag in water”.
Now, this editor might have had cause to question that if not for personal experience. Professor Ryan is bang on.
Sure swim nappies provide some protection, but in reality all they prevent is the “submarines” rising to the surface to bob along next to the bathers innocently enjoying a splash.
When our eldest daughter was just toddler we decided one day to enjoy a trip to the pool complete with a picnic to enjoy beforehand.
That picnic consisted of some lovely, freshly cooked home-made spring rolls featuring some gloriously fresh bean sprouts.
We sat on our picnic blankets enjoying the fresh feast and thought little more of it.
Just an hour or two later we were splashing in the pool when dad looked down at his darling daughter playing peacefully in the pool below?
“Hang on. Is that a bean sprout? Did she have that on her before she got in the pool? Hang on, there’s another bean sprout. Where are they coming front?,’’ the mind was racing.
“Oh shhhhhhhhhhhhhh …….,” then came the realisation.
The sprouts were in fact sprouting out of the swim nappy as part of a larger “parcel” and polluting the public pool.
The daughter and partly digested bean sprouts were ejected from the pool immediately. Reading the story about the “poo tea bag” brought all those memories flooding back.
It also meant we didn't go to the pool that hot day recently, we instead headed for the air conditioned comfort of the local shopping centre.
And one final thought, Professor Ryan also told the reporter studies had shown most pools had at least one “accidental faecal release” every week in summer. Enjoy your swim this weekend.