Last year, I started thinking about returning to being a lifeguard. I have decided I don’t really want to be a lifeguard as much as I want to be a swim instructor, ideally teaching adults from the immigrant community. If they can swim, they will be more likely to get their kids to swim, and swimming is literally a lifesaving activity.
Being a swim instructor in Ottawa requires six courses. I am just over half way through the course that will get me more than half way through the certification.
I’m currently doing an intensive Bronze Medallion and Bronze Cross combined course. It’s seven weeks long for five hours a week, and last Friday marked week four. I already have my standard first aid and CPR “C”/AED. Assuming I pass, my next steps are a short course in airway management, my lifeguard course, and finally the instructor qualification.
Browsing through the course catalogue, I might be able to find a lifeguard course that caters to people over 30. That would be nice. But I need to weigh it against the convenience of a closer course that I could combine with airway management. Decisions, decisions.
I also need to get my swimming speed up just a bit. I’m on the bubble for completing the lifeguard anaerobic test (50 metres in 60 seconds) and the endurance (400 metres in 10 minutes). Maybe the lifeguard course for older people will be a touch more forgiving…
I’ll report back in a few months. Wish me luck!
