I’ve been a lifeguard for a long time. Moving into my 41st season. Not as long as some professionals, but longer than most. Some might think, “Really? Pete, that’s what you wanted to do?” Not in the beginning. Lifeguarding was the first job I did in high school. Lifeguarding allowed me to develop my identity, who I am and what I wanted to believe in. Learning how to save lives and keep people safe also required me to learn how to teach people how to swim. That’s just how the job was set up: Teach swimming in the morning, and lifeguard in the afternoon. The work was rewarding, and the individuals I worked with helped frame the community I would embrace: public service and giving back to the community.
Lifeguarding helped pay for college. The routine became lifeguarding in the summer would secure the funding of tuition and some of my room and board for the academic year. I would cover the remaining cost by being a dishwasher and a fry cook at the student cafeteria. College became a time where I continued try and figure out who I was, what I wanted to do, and how I would get there. Lifeguarding was my anchor as I fumbled through college majors: Oceanography, Philosophy, Art, and finally completing my Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater; not because I wanted to act, but if I acted, I wouldn’t have to write college papers to get my degree; I was all in. It also helped me be a better lifeguard by removing the fear of speaking in front of people and being vulnerable.
Lifeguarding continued to be there for me as I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do with my life. It supported me as I tested out being an Emergency Medical Technician and working on an ambulance. The new routine became lifeguarding in the summer and working an ambulance in the winter. The ambulance work got me comfortable at helping people when they were injured, sick or simply going to dialysis. It helped me become a better lifeguard by making me more compassionate in serving others in their time of need. It helped me transition from being a lifeguard that only wanted rescue people to a lifeguard that wanted to help people, whether on land or in the water.
Lifeguarding continued to be in my life as I attempted a second round of college and be a husband. Let’s just say, neither worked out but lifeguarding was there for me even in those growth years. Lifeguarding provided a fallback, a constant.
It eventually led me to a permanent position where I would supervise lifeguards at five facilities: two lakefronts, two artificial lagoons, and one pool. In lifeguarding, I became the trainer, I would teach my lifeguard teams how to save lives, how to work as one unit with one mission: keeping the public safe as they participated in aquatic recreation and activities. Lifeguarding allowed me the privilege of supporting people as they grew and explored who they wanted to become and the path they wanted to take. But it made me question myself. As I saw my staff transition into careers in Public Safety, Medicine, Tech, and Teaching, was lifeguarding enough for me?
Was this it? Was lifeguarding the place where I would go no further and that this would is what life had to offer me? It made me anxious, have self-doubt. Had lifeguarding become a weight that held me back? I didn’t know and felt a bit lost. Then a moment of clarity. I came across an article in Aquatics International title the Power Issue: the most influential people in aquatics. I saw a work colleague in the article. It talked about all the good work he was doing with lifeguards and the aquatics industry. And it got me thinking, “If he could do all this good, I could be just as good.” My mind shifted. Instead of viewing lifeguarding as a fallback, why not let lifeguarding become the driver. Why not let lifeguarding make me the best person I could be? Why not let lifeguarding take me to places that I only dreamed? So, I did.
Lifeguarding has taken me to many places in the United States and to several continents. I’ve worked with passionate individuals and organizations who strive at making lifeguards better and recognized as first responders. I’ve worked and collaborated with individuals and organization that strive at making communities safety when it comes to drowning prevention. I’ve worked with individuals and organizations that strive at increasing access to swimming for their communities and countries are safer when comes to being in and around the water.
When does the work we do matter? It depends on how one frames it. My work depended on me framing it and understand that it mattered. I needed to take ownership of my actions and how I want to move through the world and that has made all the difference. Lifeguarding showed me there are no limits to what I can do.
