The Life of a Lifeguard

It's not Baywatch.  

There are no skimpy swimsuits, no slow running (although we do pretend to run in slow motion from time to time) and there is definitely a lot less sand. 

I currently have the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification, which is a qualification under the Royal Lifesaving Society.  I obtained this qualification at the age of 17 but unfortunately had to wait a year for personal reasons as I was not allowed in the pool.  I then applied for a job with my local council, before expanding my horizons and looking at leisure centres that had more of a 'water park' feel.  As I wanted to work in Disney when I was first starting out, I thought this would give me the perfect experience for working with water slides, lazy rivers etc.  And it did, in all fairness.  In my 4 years of lifeguarding, I have taught board rider lessons, assisted and performed rescues, and have even assisted in a serious spinal injury rescue (something that is drilled into us in training as one false move can cause the casualty to become paralyzed).  However, after 4 years of lifeguarding, it is starting to grate a little bit on how under appreciated we are.   Yes, we do have 'easy' jobs when there are 5 people in the pool and we just have to sit there and watch them do lengths.  But trust me, when the pool is at capacity and 3 lifeguards are watching 350 people in the pool...yeah, it gets very hard.  Not to mention the high humidity in the pool and the long hours poolside which makes it hard to concentrate.  And yet the public fail to understand how difficult our jobs are.  Whilst you're lazing around in the pool looking for things to criticise, we are watching out for your 4-year-old child as they venture into deeper water and getting ready to make a rescue.  Whilst you're shaking my chair trying to get my attention to ask where the toilets are (which you can read on the sign behind you), I am trying to keep a close eye on a group of boys who are in danger of falling onto a little girl whilst they mess about.  

It also baffles me how much we get criticised for doing our job. Yes, I blew my whistle at your son because he is wearing a snorkel mask and, God forbid, if we had to do CPR we wouldn't be able to perform it properly due to the nosepiece covering his nose. So sorry that you had to take it off, and please stop with the disgusting looks you throw my way.  Oh, your daughter just dived into the pool and I blew my whistle at her? Yeah, I don't care if she is a member of a club: if she dives into the pool there is a high chance that she could hit her head and sustain a serious head injury.  So each time a lifeguard blows their whistle, think of it as preventing an accident from happening rather than viewing us as 'kill-joys'.  Trust me when I say we want people to have fun. We're not monsters, we're just looking out for your health and safety at the end of the day.  

However, there are so many benefits to this job.  You learn skills for life which have become so useful in the real world.  As cheesy as it sounds, you bond with your workmates so quickly as you literally see the people you work with wearing swimsuits when you first meet them with no gel in their hair or no makeup on.  You also have to get up, close and personal with them when in staff training so there is no time for embarrassment or personal space.  Not to mention the amount of fun you have when the leisure pool is shut and all the slides are free to enjoy with no queues.  It's also fun to push your colleagues in the pool when it's their last shift...*cough cough*. With regards to the customers, there is no better feeling than when someone compliments you for all the hard work that you are putting into making sure their child has the best day ever in this water wonderland.  

I could go on for hours, but in short, lifeguarding is a boring job. Of course, it is, but it's definitely not the most boring job in the world.  Whilst the actual job can be tedious, the training is very intense and there is so much that we have to remember.  However, I would much rather do this job than sitting in an office trying to sell car insurance.  The way I see it, I'm being paid to hang out with my friends whilst chilling in shorts inside whilst it's freezing cold outside. It also keeps me fit and allows me to maintain a somewhat healthy lifestyle.  I can think of worst jobs! So as a final reminder, lifeguards are there to assist in an emergency. We are not babysitters.    

Beckora x