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Mon, 29 July 2024,
posted by City of Sydney
Lifeguard Appreciation Day is a special occasion to recognise and honour the incredible dedication and hard work of lifeguards.
At the City of Sydney pools, our vigilant and highly-trained lifeguards are the unsung heroes, ensuring everyone who visits our facilities, from children to seasoned athletes, can enjoy a safe and secure environment as well as a welcoming atmosphere.
We recently had a chat with Elliot, one of our dedicated and enthusiastic lifeguards, who was on duty at Victoria Park Pool and has been a lifeguard at various City of Sydney pools for just over 2 years.
Elliot was inspired to become a lifeguard while being a regular patron at Andrew Boy Charlton pool.
E: "Andrew (Boy) Charlton is such a beautiful pool. I was there swimming one day and saw a sign asking for lifeguard sign-ups and I thought 'Why not?!'"
Elliot believes there are many benefits of being a City of Sydney pools lifeguard, aside from the beautiful locations.
E: "The people I work with including the other lifeguards are what makes the job enjoyable. I personally also love the fitness side as well. I can walk up to 25km around the pool while on duty as I'm constantly moving around. I also go swimming during my break."
Because of the motivation of fitness, Elliot is now using his lifeguard skills in his personal life too as he now competes in swimming marathons and is training to take on the Palm Beach to Shelly Beach race next year.
When it comes to keeping guests safe while swimming, luckily Elliot hasn't been faced with any serious rescues.
E: "I've never had to save someone thankfully but if I did it would be life-changing. I feel very confident in my First Aid skills and know that if there was a bad injury or drowning situation, I'd know what to do."
He appreciates how important having the skills to help save someone is.
E: "I believe everyone should learn basic CPR as it's always going to be valuable and as I've been told in training, you're more likely to need to perform CPR on a loved one."
All our lifeguards participate in diligent training to gain the proper skills and knowledge in order to keep our patrons safe while in the water. Elliot explained that some of the training involves.
E: "Swimming 200m in 6 minutes, practising towing another person in the water for 25m, or 'spinals' where you learn to lift someone out of the water on a board incase of spinal injuries. That one can be trickier."
The flexibility of the role is also what Elliot enjoys, as he can use his lifeguard skills part-time at the City of Sydney pools, while still maintaining his other job as an illustrator.
E: "I do enjoy coming to the pools and being outside and seeing the regulars. Although there may be difficult situations sometimes, you're there to help people at the end of the day. It's good to know that people do appreciate lifeguards."