Renaud Center — Local services in O’Fallon

First and possibly last time visiting after witnessing such careless and dangerous acts by lifeguards and our poor overall experience.

TLDR: The pool and its staff is poorly mismanaged and the direct actions of a lifeguard cause injury to a child that resulted in a 911 call and complete shut down of the pool. No lifeguard that witnessed the incident (at least 4 of them) cared to intervene or even talk to the effected family. Gross negligence at its core.

For those who want to know more:

We traveled about 30 minutes to come to the Renaud pool on Memorial Day. The holiday pool hours were 11:00 - 3:30. We arrived at 11:05 and were told at the front desk that "they forgot to schedule life guards and they are calling them now and it will be up to 1 hr." Since we traveled and were meeting friends, we decided to wait it out. When we went inside to wait, we learned our friends (with a newborn and toddler) were not even informed of the late opening, but they had already paid so they had no choice but to wait. Thankfully, by 11:30, there were enough guards to open the pool, with the exception of the slide. By 12:00, they were able to open the slide. Within the first few minutes, I made a comment to my friend that "they are wasting no time sending those kids down the slide" as they were sending them down in rapid succession. At one point, there were up to 3 kids at the bottom of the slide trying to get out of the wading area, that's how fast the guard was sending them down. And sure enough, 12:20 there was an incident. The guard sent down an approximately 7 year old boy, followed by a very large man (think body builder). And he came down right on top of the child. The man searches for the kid under the water and then pulls him up. The child is in hysterics and in pain. No guard EVER came to the bottom to check on them or the situation, despite all of them staring at them. The dad gets his son out of the pool, chats with the man who came down the slide, and STILL the guards are just staring at them at a distance. The father took the kid to the guard office where they then had the child sit in a chair with a lifeguard behind him, stabilizing his head/neck, and only then did they call EMS. Due to the incident, they had everyone leave the pool and instructed everyone to wait in the family locker room. We weren't wasting any time, we were actively rounding up 4 small children, their water toys, goggles, clothes, shoes etc and we were approached several times about needing to take our stuff to the locker room. After the same girl informed us a 2nd time within 90 seconds, I did snap on her a little bit and say, "I know. You've told us 2x, and we are clearly actively working on that." A little understanding goes a long way. Might I add that there were easily 30 people still in the pool area, so it's not even like we were the last ones or that we weren't actively trying to leave the area. We were then told it would be at least 1 hour before they could open again. With young kids, this was just simply not feasible, so we left. With no offer to refund us or a credit for a future use. After this though, I'm not sure we are going back anyways. So disappointed in not only our overall experience but also the absolute reckless and dangerous acts of the lifeguards from start to finish.

If nothing else, all of this demonstrates a terrible mismanagement of the pool. From staffing to training on timing on when to send people down a slide to how to react when there is an incident. And these are the people that are supposed to be trained to revive someone in a drowning incident? They have a job to do and I have 0 trust in their ability to preform their job effectively from start to finish.

(please note, my profile says "Local Guide". I am an established contributor and not just another "Karen" looking to complain. This is truly a very concerning and disturbing event that those considering going should...

Somebody put a Marvel Avengers Sticker on one of the Exit Signs and it wasn't me! I saw who did it, he was Tall, Dark & Handsome, looked just like me but I assure you it was a doppelgänger!

I've read a few of the reviews of this place! I want to address a few things!

The shower has directions on how to use it, if you can't figure out how to get it hot you should contact Symmons for troubleshooting, I assure you it's not that hard to figure out!

Yes, it can get crowded in there but it's not a major issue! I usually take a lap or two on the track if someone is using the equipment I want to use! I had a membership at Planet Purple People Eater and it sucked! I don't care what anyone sais, Planet Fitness is one of the worst gyms in the history of Fitness! With all it's "Purple" and "Judgement Free Zone!" Maybe you wouldn't get judged as much if you didn't walk around with your headphones on projecting your ego at other people! I checked out Club Fitness and it is very spacious but they charge you more for access to other areas of the gym that are not worth it by any means!

Renaud Center is very welcoming! it's just some of the staff are younger and still need to develop themselves. No Biggie. I kinda thought that they were non welcoming at first too! I'll say this, Toby cares about the people who train here and I've seen him go out of his way to help some of the Seniors that work out up here! I've never introduced myself to Sue but she's one of the best trainers in O'Fallon. She's an Athletic Boss and has a very positive aura!

What I like most about the Renaud Center is the people who train here! It's a great community! Some of the seniors that come in there are really inspiring to watch along with a few of the disabled people that work out there! I love the Renaud Center but I'm leaving a four star rating over five bc I do wish they had a Sauna or a Hot Tub, But I'm sure it's a lot of maintenance!

For the most part, everyone there is friendly, Staff and Members alike! Shout out to Sheila the Lifeguard she's very nice and remembers my name! And like Cheers sometimes you want to go where everyone knows your name! I've even interrupted some of the members mid work out to ask advice on proper form and not one person was rude to me! This place is Great! But if the shoe doesn't fit and you think you like another gym better, do you! I like the Renaud...

My daughter did private swim lessons here and we wanted to switch instructors just to get a different perspective as my daughter didn't feel she was getting good feedback. They were very nice about it all at the front desk, filled out another form and in about a week they called, unfortunately I missed their call, they did not leave a VM, so I waited over a week to see if they would try to contact me again...they did not. I then called the center and they transferred me to "the swim room" where I spoke with someone who took my info and ensured me that they would call me back...no call. I called two days later and spoke with someone different who AGAIN said they would call me back...again NO CALL!! I will be going somewhere else. I am extremely disappointed in the RSC. With swim season quickly approaching, my daughter has now gone over a month without lessons as I kept giving this place the benefit...