Published: February 25, 2022
Our area has experienced a shortage of lifeguards over recent years. The Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA will be offering Lifeguard certification classes to the community this March and April to fill this gap. The first step for candidates is to enroll in one or more Prescreening sessions at the Y’s Kontes pool. These will be available at 3:30 p.m. on Monday February 28; 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 4; 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8; and at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 12. Participants may register for one or all of these times.
To become a lifeguard, individuals must be at least age fifteen. There is no age cap, and at least one person aged nearly seventy has completed the course in recent months.
Prerequisite skills to become a lifeguard include swimming three hundred yards, a timed event that involves retrieving a brick from the pool’s bottom, and treading water without using one’s arms.
The Prescreening program is free to YMCA facility members, $3.00 for Y program members, and $4.00 for the community. For more details, please email Mary Desjardins at Aquatics@ccaymca.org or call the Y at (856)691-0030.