This weekend the lifeguard instructors at Water Country USA got together to recertify their skills and practice teaching. The team spent the morning reviewing teaching techniques, taking American Red Cross written tests, and demonstrating their CPR/AED skills.
The pools at Water Country USA don’t have any water yet so after lunch the group headed to Midtown Aquatic Center in Newport News. We hopped into the water first to take our swim test. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment requires a tougher test than American Red Cross.
- 300 yard continuous swim (100 front crawl, 100 breaststroke, 100 choice)
- 50 yard approach stroke (front crawl head out of the water) must be completed in 45 seconds
- 20 yard brick retrieval (swim 20 yards, retrieve a 10 lb brick at the bottom of the pool, swim back 20 yards holding it out of water)
- 90 second brick tread (dive to retrieve a 10 lb brick, tread water for 45 seconds holding it out of water, drop it and tread another 45 seconds holding their hands up)
After taking our swim test the instructors practiced teaching in-water skills such as entries, rescues and back boarding. Getting in the water this weekend makes it feel like summer is right around the corner. We start training our guards next weekend to get ready for May 21. I’m counting the days until we open.
