Best Summers of My Life

With finals being a thing of the past, graduation come and gone, professors finally submitting semester grades- my heart is breaking.

This is the first summer, after 8 years straight, that I won't be life guarding.

I've seen a lot in my years at the local JCC- been through 4 head life guards and 3 director changes, but one thing always stayed the same. My little pool.

Since I wasn't WSI certified (therefore not getting the 25 cent raise), I always felt more comfortable with the little ones. We learned how to blow bubbles, scoop ice cream and there was the occasional dunking of unsuspecting children who were unaware that putting their face in the water wouldn't hurt.

There was always immense satisfaction in being one of the first to get the kids into the water. With a 2 ft pool around the sides, and depth of 3 ft in the center (side note: I'd like to have a word or two with who ever designed that pool.. they obviously don't know that children gravitate towards the middle, especially on an incline! Also- they have obviously never spent a substantial amount of time trying to tell little ones that they need hold onto the wall of the pool- or they will DIEEE!! Okay, maybe not die, but they will be terrified of the water if they go under for any short amount of time without being held onto.), I've had my fair share of jumping in to pull out those wide eyed, more than courageous and less than skilled swimmers.

The JCC runs a summer day camp, with new mini-camps each week. So each week, we have a few new campers, but mostly it's the regulars that show up. And by regulars- I mean the kids that I use to have in the little pool, that are now 8 years older and are doing dives and learning "rescues" in the deep end!- Oh I feel old!!

But the greatest joy and satisfaction of life guarding came during my last week of working camp....ever. It was also the one week that we the lifeguards made up our own daily theme!

I first noticed Shabat, during level testing that occurred every Monday of a new camp week. Each week we test new campers, as well as re-evaluate the returnee's (look at me- like I ever got in the big pool to test these kids!) and see where they placed within the pool's sectioned off areas.

My little swimmers consisted of about 5 groups that came to swim starting at 9:30 am, with the babies! Like in swim diapers babies! The next group were a bit older, and the last two groups were the oldest- maybe 5-ish? But this particular week, the babies didn't come because Mr. Music Man (uh- you'd think I would be able to remember his name!) came to sing for the little tykes. So there wasn't anyone coming to the little pool for the first couple of sessions, so I was just watching the big pool testing.

Back to Shabat- the boy would not even leave the steps. The lifeguard in the pool was able to coax him to hold her hands and come off the steps to see if he was tall enough to stand in the shallowest section (yellow wrist bands only please!). He was able to stand, but promptly returned to the steps once lessons started. He wasn't overly excited to be taken out by the lifeguard during the lesson portion, just moving through the directions. If he was skipped over, he'd just fade into the background- playfully dragging his hands through the water. The half hour swim lesson quickly ended, and the kids headed back inside to change.

All the campers return later in the day for free swim, which by that time us lifeguards begin rotation for actual guarding. I had made it to the shallow end, and watched Shabat as he played around with some friends- obviously more comfortable just standing. One friend went past the rope line, into the orange section (with an orange wrist band) while Shabat just stood next to the rope. His friend asked him why he didn't have an orange band, to which he replied, "because I don't know how to swim."  To watch his whole group of friends move into the orange section to swim and leave Shabat by the rope to watch- just broke my heart.  I called him over, and he waded over- probably thinking that he did something wrong.  I asked him to look at the clock behind me, to let me know how much longer free swim was going for.  He told me the time, and I asked him if he'd like me to get in the pool with him once I finished rotations, just to work on some swimming techniques. He looked at me- wide eyed- and smiled.

Once I was done with rotation, I grabbed a few (okay, all 9 of them) swim noodles and my goggles. I told Shabat that I only had about 15 minutes before I had to get out and head back for rotations. I told him that I wanted to see some of his swimming strokes, and when he gave me a puzzled look, I proceeded to grab his arms to take him around the pool.  He wasn't getting the floating concept so I propped all 9 noodles under his arms to show him that they would hold him up.  He smiled as his legs began to float, and asked that I not let go of his hands. We waded around the shallow end until it was time for my rotation.

I went through rotation, and watched as Shabat got more comfortable with floating. One by one he would remove the noodles, until he got down to 3. That was when he realized more of his body was horizontal in the water, and just about time when free swim was over. He hopped out of the pool, grabbed all the noodles, put them back in the equipment closet, grabbed his towel and came over to me. He handed me my goggles (which were bright pink!), smiled and gave me a hug. He whispered, "thanks" and turned to head inside. That is pretty much about time that I totally teared up.

Tuesday was a whole new day- and Shabat asked if he could use the noodles for lessons. I told him that I had to be in the little pool, but that who ever was teaching that day would take great care of him. Who ever was teaching lessons that day, let him use the noodles whenever he was brought off the step. Long gone was the kid from yesterday, who didn't seem to mind when he was looked over for one on one time with the guard. He always waited patiently with his hand in the air to show that he hadn't had a turn yet, with a smile on his face.

Free swim, I hopped back into the pool during my time off of rotation and got Shabat down to 1 noodle. About 5 minutes after that, I got him a kick board. Kick boards are a bit harder to balance, but once Shabat realized that it was okay to set his feet down- he quickly got the hang of it. Again, free swim time was up, Shabat returned everything he was using, grabbed his towel, returned my goggles and gave me a big hug. This time after the thanks, he said, "I can't wait to tell my mom- she isn't going to believe that I'm not afraid of the water anymore."  For a kid who was "afraid" of the water- he was doing one heck of a job learning!

Wednesday is probably one of the hardest days to work- since it's smack dab in the middle of the week. Shabat was excited for lessons, and even wandered off the steps by himself- which he was promptly told that he needed to wait on the steps until a lifeguard was with him, and he did- smiling the whole time.
Free swim rolled around, and Scott (head lifeguard) told me that he'd take my first rotation, allowing me to get in the water with him. I wanted to push my luck, so I told Shabat that we were going to put our face in the water. He looked at me suspiciously until I explained that it was super easy, and super fun. He seemed concerned, but I made it easy by showing him that you first dip your chin, then mouth, then your nose, and finally your eyes. He slipped a bit, and his whole head went under. He quickly popped himself back up, and looked at me. I asked what he was thinking, and he said that he liked it! I told him that if he puts the goggles on his eyes (rather than wearing them on his forehead) he'd be able to look under water. Needless to stay, he spent the rest of the free swim, underwater. He also lost the kick board, and started to use his arms.

By Thursday- he was swimming on his own. I nearly burst into tears (both happy and sad) when he showed me that he could swim on his own, and told me that he didn't need me to come in during free swim and to "enjoy" my break between rotations. He was a very intuitive 10 year old.

Friday was my very last day- to which the theme was "Alida Appreciation Day."  Shabat swam around, grinning ear to ear. I told him that if he wanted to stop getting water in his mouth, then he needed to stop smiling underwater. It was just so wonderful to watch him swim around on his own. Something it takes years for kids to learn, he learned in a matter of days. Free swim ended, and he asked for one last hug. I just had to have it documented:

Knowing that I was able to make a small difference in his summer, maybe even his life, is something I'll never forget- even if he doesn't remember it. But.. I have a sneaking suspicion this isn't something he'll soon forget.

Not only will I miss the kids that I worked with everyday, but I'll also miss my co-workers. They were the ones that made it easier to have to bundle up in sweats to watch the older ladies swim in the morning, block out the droning of techno music during morning aquatics, and deal with unruly and obnoxious patrons/children/staff. Not to mention, the life guarding parties we had reigned supreme!

These girls were the ones who stuck by me in everything- from swim lesson formations, the occasional disagreements and the unpredictable Upstate weather (and who also didn't mind when the heat was jacked up to 85 degrees)- my baby pool girls <3

Guess it's funny how things work out and how it's the little things that I remember- this coming from the girl who at age 6, didn't put more than her feet into the pool until the very last day of swim lessons. :-)