On Duty

Cameron Municipal Pool lifeguards say they are prepared with thousands of area children expected to visit the pool this summer.

Although the majority of this year’s lifeguards are new to the pool, they have an established group of leaders to look to when facing the perils of protecting area children from injury or drowning.

“It’s interesting to see new people come in, but it’s exciting to see them learn and be involved with what we do at the pool and its programs like swim lessons,” said Nicole Jackson, a four-year veteran lifeguard And currently training to run for the University of Saint Mary. “It’s neat to see more people involved in that ... The most difficult thing is getting into the routine and the daily schedule.”

For Kylie Graham, a third-year lifeguard, she will transition into a leadership role this summer. She said she often feels terrible when she has to correct a new lifeguard, but knows it’s what’s best for the lifeguard and the community.

“It’s really different. Last year, I was trying to get everything locked down and now I’m helping all of the new people. It’s hard to yell at people at first because you feel like you’re the bad guy, but you know you’re helping them in the end,” Graham said. “It’s hard to be in that position ... My biggest thing is watching people as they come out of the slide because sometimes they can fall and go under so you have to be cautious and watching them to make sure they get out. I scan over my area to make sure every kid is above water and if I see someone struggling I tell them ‘hey, you need to step out a little bit and take a break.’”

Many of the new lifeguards recently completed training with the pool opening earlier this month. One of those was 15 year old Bryce Prothero, who became a lifeguard as part of a plan to train to become a member of the special forces. Through the training process, Prothero said he was in precarious rescue situations, elevated in difficulty, because he had to perform them while treading water.

“You have to tread water for 2 minutes with your hands above your head, then they threw a brick in the middle of the 6-foot and you had to grab the brick, put it above water and kick your way back to the side,” Prothero said. “It was pretty difficult. I didn’t train for it because I thought it was going to be easy, but it was not as easy as I thought it would be. Treading was the hardest part. Your legs start to give out at a minute and you’re just sitting there running on fumes.”

Prothero is not the only new face at Cameron Municipal Pool. Erin Adamek is the new pool assistant manager and previously drove a bus for the school district. Adamek said she lost a child to drowning in 2007 and has a deep emotional connection to child safety.

“I make sure the kids are behaving. It’s very similar (to bus driving). There are a lot of the same issues,” Adamek said. “It’s just kids being kids and controlling that kind of environment. It’s not bad most kids are respectful and respectful of the guards and that is all we ask. I had a son drown in 2007. I bring my kids here when I’m working and when I’m not working and I trust the lifeguards here.”