876LikesGut, congrats on the lifeguard test. If I had taken that test with you, you would have had to stop to save my life. 20 lenghts? WOW, I am impressed! You go!
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Gut, you are fierce! I haven't posted in some time, but when I saw that you are officially a certified lifeguard, I had to give you props. Recently in the past month here in Charleston, a gifted swimmer who was years into swimming AAU (amateur athletic union - an organization in which exceptional swimmers train year round starting as young as 8 years old) actually drowned while training. She was surrounded by her teammates doing laps right beside her, but because they were swimming themselves failed to see that she was in distress. Not even the coaches present noticed until it was too late. NO lifeguard was present. If a trained professional had been in the birds eye view chair, this potential olympian might still be training. Who would have dreamed that a girl who had been swimming competitively for two thirds of her life could drown in a crowded pool? She had a seizure and no one noticed until it was too late. So, Yay Gutmutter! You are a special person and you will be the reason one day that some family will never have to suffer a senseless loss. Even the most seasoned swimmers are not immune to freak accidents, and the people around you are a little bit safer. Lifeguards can be undervalued or even unnoticed by many. Until they need you.
What a sad story. There should always be a lifeguard on duty when people are in a pool. I could tell you lots and lots of stories about the things I've seen over the years as a lifeguard. People are stupid. Stuff happens. My biggest lifeguard peeve is parents who think lifeguards are their personal babysitters. I don't know how much I'll actually use this current certification, but it's nice to have as backup.
Back in my college days I was a lifeguard at a church camp. I only ever had to rescue two people and one of them was a top-notch swimmer and lifeguard herself. She got a face full of water from another swimmer just as she took a breath. She inhaled a little water and panicked.
It can happen to anyone.
Good for you, Gut.I took my lifesaving test when I was 16. After we swam all those laps, etc., the final test was to rescue the instructor. Picture this huge, burly 200+ pounds of solid muscle man flailing about in the deep end. We had to swim the length of the pool, secure him and get him down to the shallow end. He got me into 2 headlocks during the process but I managed to break free and haul him down the length of the pool. The thing that used to drive me totally nuts about lifeguarding was the smart-ass kids who thought it was funny to pretend they were drowning. Honestly, unless you know for a fact they are screwing around you really can't tell the difference. That, and the super-competitive parents who would come in after swimming lessons and give us hell if their kid wasn't the best swimmer in the class.
haha Marley, that last sentence remineded me of when I was little, and I took swim lessons. I was the strongest swimmed in my class, and more advanced than the other students. so my teacher had me swom laps with the crawlstroke when he taught the other kids how to dog paddle. My dad use to say i was part otter growing up.
I've enjoyed hearing about your swimming adventures, Gut, and I'm proud of you.Because my mom didn't know how to swim she made sure my sister and I took every swimming lesson offered. I used to love to bodysurf, but my sister is a wonderfully strong swimmer and could be described as an otter like SuperBrat. To this day while on vacation, she'll swim in motel pools no matter what the weather.
By the way, last night I had a dream about you Gut.You and I were at a stable talking horse-talk (not whinny/neigh, but talking about horses
), and then you threw a saddle on one and took off. I have no idea what this means, or what motivated me to dream about you.
I'm not even sure you're a horse lover but thought you might get a kick out of hearing about it.
Also, Gut, I saw Pollyanna when I was a little girl and loved it so much I wanted to be Hayley Mills.
rosekid - I LOVE that we're dreamfasting together. Too cool. Pollyanna is still one of my favorites. I got it for my kids and still have it. I love it when she turns the preacher from fire and brimstone to the 500+ "Happy texts" in the bible and he is humbled. And of course the old lady who is bedridden and a total beyotch until Pollyanna comes along. I want to be Pollyanna.
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