There’s something about the word ‘lifeguard’ that instantly elicits flashbacks of David Hasselhoff patrolling the beach with his lifesaving ladies-their distinguished red bathing suits, sun-bleached hair, sporty yellow jeeps. If I put a conch shell up to my ear I’m sure I could hear ”I’ll be ready” singing in the distance. It’s something I won’t deny; I was a Baywatch fan. I loved that these “everyday superheroes” rescued people from shark-attacks, heart-attacks, and every other attack in between. For me, Baywatch made lifeguarding cool. And I almost forgot just how cool lifeguards really are. That is, until yesterday…

 

For the 13^th straight year, the St. Louis Area Chapter played host to the annual Lifeguard Competition. This year, 20 lifeguarding teams from St. Louis area pool facilities came together and engaged in a friendly competition to test their life-saving skills. The teams completed a series of five surprise scenario-based tests. We’re talking simulated real-life situations that they might encounter while guarding the decks at their local pools- an unconscious infant, submerged victim, someone suffering from a spinal injury, a panicked swimmer, or someone who suffered a broken bone or fracture. 

 

While the situations were all staged, and the victims were all volunteers, the experience was very real. It’s not often that during a life-saving mission, lifeguards get to hear feedback from a panel of judges and the chance to rectify their mistakes. It also gave the participating lifeguards a chance to brush up on their First Aid, CPR, and rescue techniques in a fun atmosphere and safe learning environment.

 

Yesterday’s event proved that St. Louis area lifeguards are just as cool- if not cooler- than the Baywatch crew (Check out the pictures below, if you don’t believe me). Although all 126 lifeguard participants did a great job, it was still a competition. So extra congratulations go out to Florissant’s Team 3 who nabbed the overall first place award, and to Hannibal’s Teams One and Three who won second and third places respectively. Another shout-out to Lifeguard Brandon McBride- our very own David Hasselhoff- who scored this year’s MVL (most valuable lifeguard) trophy.

 

Again, congratulations to all of this year’s participants. For more information on this year’s competition, or to become a lifeguard, check out the Lifeguarding portion of our website.

 

Below are pictures from this year’s event. For your viewing and listening enjoyment, click here, press play, then minimize the new window to play the Baywatch theme song as accompaniment to the slides. It really adds a special touch:)