Last week, 12 children were briefly hospitalized after a faulty valve led to them being exposed to chemical fumes at the Daland Swim School in Thousand Oaks, California, near Los Angeles.
The malfunction occurred after the pool’s filtration pump was reset, resulting in an an excess of chlorine in the pool, according to several news reports.
A total of 19 individuals, apparently all swim school students or instructors, were initially exposed to the fumes, which caused several of the students to have difficulty breathing and suffer from other minor effects. Seven individuals treated on the scene, and another 12, all children, brought to a local hospital for observation. All of the children who were brought to the hospital were released that night or the next day.
According to the Ventura County Star, the school personnel said that there had been some issues with the pump earlier in the week, and repairs had been made. The school was cleared to open last Friday, two days after the incident. The school has two pools, and the incident occurred in the larger pool that has a retractable roof which was open at the time of the incident.
The Daland Swim School was founded in 1987 by Ingrid Daland, who was a star swimmer in Germany and eventually married Peter, legendary coach of the University of Southern California Trojans. The club is currently owned by their daughter, Leslie Daland-James.