Rachel Guetta ’13, Petey Menz ’11, and Lila Epstein ’10
Staff Writer, News Editor, and Editor-in-Chief

After chlorine level in the Staples pool rose from a standard three (ppm) to an unprecedented 3.2, the custodial staff reacted quickly under the direction of Athletic Director, Marty Lisevick and returned the level back to normal.

“We had a problem with the chlorinator,” Lisevick said. “Usually when the levels of chlorine get too high, it would turn off. This time, it kept running. For the levels to be consistently high, it was apparent that there was something wrong with the machine,” Lisevick said.

In Lisevick’s 10 years at Staples, he had never seen anything like this case before. After the swim coaches alerted him to the situation, Lisevick quickly contacted the custodial staff who filtered, neutralized and drained the pool. However, some students still experienced side effects.

“I literally had toxic poisoning,” head captain Lizzie Rubel ’10 said.

Other swim team members who were affected complained of dry and itchy skin. There was a mentioned case of bronchitis, although the origins are unknown.

“The main reason girls were getting upset was because their hair was getting dried and bleached,” head captain Natalie LeBlanc, ’10 said.

Last Friday, while the chlorine level was at a 2.6, the varsity swim team practice was moved to the Westport YMCA, though Lisevick does not think that was a necessary precaution, as the JV team swam that day.

However, LeBlanc said that the swim team didn’t let the situation affect the quality of their practices. Nobody objected to getting into the pool.

“Now we’re trying to keep it at around 1 or 1.55 level,” Lisevick said.