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."

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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, or visit the firm's Web site at www.Swimways.com. Consumers also can write to Swimways Corp., 5816 Ward Court, Virginia Beach, VA 23455.

To see a picture of the recalled or to link to this press release, please use the following link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml03/03126.html.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270 or visit CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

May 19, 2003
Release # 03-126
Swimway's Hotline: (800) 889-7946
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772

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