Recall: Swimways Corp. Recall of Pool Dive Sticks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2003 Release # 03-126

Swimway's Hotline: (800) 889-7946 CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: Mark Ross, (301) 504-7908

CPSC, Swimways Corp. Announce Recall of Pool Dive Sticks

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Swimways Corp., of Virginia Beach, Va., is voluntarily recalling about 25,000 packages of dive sticks (each package contains four dive sticks), which fail to meet the commission's safety requirements. Children can fall or land on these dive sticks in shallow water and may suffer impalement injuries.

The commission and Swimways Corp. have not received any reports of incidents or injuries with these dive sticks. This recall is being conducted to prevent injuries.

These are "Swim Ways Deluxe Dive Buddies" weighted dive sticks. The dive sticks are soft plastic tubes that have character heads and feet. The characters are a yellow seahorse, a green and purple walrus, a red and blue underwater diver, and a blue shark. The dive sticks are about 7.5 inches long and an inch in diameter. When dropped into water, they sink to the bottom of a pool and stand upright so children can swim or dive down and retrieve them. There is no writing on the products except numbers located on the backs that represent the dive stick's point value. The cardboard-backed packaging shows a photo of fish and coral in an underwater scene. Writing on the packaging includes "Swim Ways," "Deluxe Dive Buddies" and "Made in China."

Specialty pool stores nationwide sold these dive sticks from December 2002 through May 2003 for about $6.

Consumers should take these dive sticks away from children immediately and contact Swimways for information on receiving a refund or free replacement product. For more information, contact Swimways at (800) 889-7946 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Consumers also can write to Swimways Corp., 5816 Ward Court, Virginia Beach, VA 23455.