I have been working towards becoming a swim instructor for a while now. I first wrote about the idea of becoming a lifeguard back in 2022 and last fall I finally started the process. In all, I needed to complete five courses (since I already had my first aid and CPR qualifications).
In May, I applied for a job. In Ottawa, the process includes a set of fitness tests that are even tougher than what you need to pass your lifeguard exams. I failed.
I was pretty discouraged, even though the person who conducted my interview encouraged me to try again. She said I was close enough to the qualifying times that if I did some extra swimming, she thought I could do it. I finally agreed to a re-test.
I wasn’t keen about adding extra swims, and I wasn’t sure how to prepare except to swim faster. That’s where my swim village stepped in.
My coach noticed my extra speed at practice and encouraged me to keep at it. She gave me some advice on how to get more out of my head’s up freestyle. She timed me to see how close I was.
A lane-mate started doing regular freestyle sprints so I could aim to keep up while doing the required head’s up stroke. The rest of my lane-mates patiently worked around this weird set of drills that was technically what we were supposed to be doing (choice) but not quite.
Another friend invited me to the nearby pond (I’m a sucker for peer pressure) and then did her own thing while I guesstimated 50 metre distances and swam my heart out.
On Wednesday, I redid all the tests. I finished everything with a couple of seconds to spare, even though I had to do one test a second time because I was too slow the first time around.
I am deeply grateful to my swim gang who had faith in me and made time to get to help me improve my times.
Congrats!!!
Well Done! You and all the village