On Wed, 23 Oct 1996, Richard Lawson wrote:

My question is, why didn't Ranma et. al. just jump in the right pool
after they got cursed?  Especially since it appears the Guide had a map
of the pools?  For those who say "He made it after Ranma left,"  I
counter that the Guide always knew the name of the pool people fell into
*before* they emerged, so he must have all the pools memorized.

That's easy!!  Because his curse made him slip and slide on the wet grass
so he couldn't get to the pool.

I read that somewhere...  can't remember where...  ^_-