Vigilance.
Three young Jefferson County lifeguards who have worked for several years at public pools in the area said their job requires constant vigilance.
Reagan Kennedy and Peyton Cattoor are lifeguards and managers at the Crystal City Pool, 1511 Park Drive, in the Crystal City Park. Kennedy, 21, a lifeguard for six years; and Cattoor, 20, a lifeguard for five years, both graduated from Jefferson High School and live south of Festus.
Alivia Mattler, 19, of Barnhart patrols the waters at the indoor and outdoor pools at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, as a lifeguard and assistant manager.
All three said they have spotted people in trouble in the water and pulled them to safety during their time working at lifeguards.
“My story – the first time I had to jump in – was my second day of work ever,” Cattoor said. “A little boy jumped off the diving board when I was giving instructions to a little girl about something. He immediately started flailing his arms and freaking out. His brother couldn’t swim to go help him.
“So, I jumped in and put my (rescue) tube under him and brought him to the side. I jumped in, and, like they taught us in training, I pushed my tube under his arms. He was not injured.”
Kennedy said she also helped a youngster from the water.
“I was doing a swim test (which children must pass before jumping off the diving board) in the deep end,” she said. “I didn’t realize a little girl with floaties – things they put on their arms – went off the diving board and both floaties came off. So, I had to go in and grab her. She was very scared. She was not injured. She was more freaked out than anything.”
Beyond saving people from drowning, lifeguards often help people with a wide variety of injuries, the lifeguards said.
“We’ve had people get injured here doing just random things, like falling or whatever,” Cattoor said. “But, most of our saves are just kids who overestimate themselves.”
Kennedy said one incident that comes to mind involved a man who sustained a painful injury at the pool.
“We had one guy go off the diving board. and he actually tore both of his quads (quadriceps),” she said. “He literally just jumped off the diving board and tore both quads. So, on both legs, he tore his quad muscles.
“He was able to crawl out of the pool and we asked if he was OK. His daughter came up to me and asked if we had a wheelchair of some sort, and at the time, we didn’t. So, he had his arms over me and another lifeguard. and we basically carried him to his car and he went to the emergency room. His daughter drove. He would not let me call an ambulance.”
Sometimes, a guest’s injury has nothing to do with the pool, but the lifeguards help however they can.
“I have had to call the ambulance before, but it was because a little girl got stung by bees and she was allergic and she was having an allergic reaction,” Cattoor said.
Keeping up with all the people facing potential dangers can be a daunting task, the lifeguards said.
“It’s very hectic when there are a lot of people here,” Cattoor said. “When there are a lot of kids, you know, sometimes they start to test the limits a little bit with the rules. Or, if it’s super crowded, people are bumping into each other and there’s more to keep your eyes on. And, when there’s more people, there’s more rule breaking, there’s more struggling swimmers. The American Red Cross says that for every 25 people, to have one lifeguard. That’s how we determine how many lifeguards (are needed on duty).”
Much of what they do while on the job has to do with preventing injuries, they said.
“I would say walking is the biggest thing we have to repeatedly say – ‘You need to walk!’” Kennedy said. “If you get hurt you can’t go in the pool if you’re bleeding.
“Another one is making sure only one person goes down the slide at a time. And, at the diving board, one person can go off at a time, and only when it’s clear and make sure the person ahead of you is out of the way.”
Cattoor noted that the diving board can be a dangerous place when people take unnecessary risks.
“We also are really strict about not going backwards off the diving board, because we’ve had people hurt trying to do it,” she said. “It never seems to work out very well. People are always trying to do back flips and back dives. It’s just a head and neck safety issue, because that’s the easiest way to hit your head on the board.”
Both lifeguards said that the most important safety tip they can offer is for parents or guardians to pay attention to their kids’ behavior.
“I would say parents not supervising their children or being in the water with children who cannot swim (is the biggest concern). That’s where we’ve had most of our issues,” Cattoor said.
“Our rule for that is, if your child is not able to swim, always be no more than an arm’s length away,” Kennedy added.
Both Kennedy and Cattoor are college students. Kennedy attends Maryville University in St. Louis County and is studying physical therapy. Cattoor attends St. Louis University and is in the bio-chemistry/pre-med program.
Both said working as a lifeguard can be gratifying, adding that have made many friends at the pool.
“I think our community we’ve met throughout the years is really important, and the staff we get to work with is really, really fun,” Kennedy said. “We get to help some of these younger people grow as people and teach them how to be safe (through swimming lessons at the pool).”
Cattoor said a lot of lifeguards enjoy the work so much they stick around as long as they can.
“Most of our guards come back for years, which is really great because we get to make a lot of great memories, have some good laughs,” she said. “We all end up becoming friends.”
Kennedy said Crystal City Pool, like public pools across the country, can always use more lifeguards.
“Everywhere that I hear of has a shortage,” she said.
At Crystal City Pool, lifeguards make $15 per hour, while managers make $20 per hour. On holidays, everyone makes $1 more per hour, Cattoor and Kennedy said.
Alivia Mattler of Barnhart is a lifeguard and assistant manager at the Arnold Recreation Center’s indoor and outdoor pools.
Arnold lifeguard
Mattler, a Seckman High School graduate, said she has worked as a lifeguard since she was 15.
“I think I’m a strong swimmer,” she said.
Like the Crystal City lifeguards, she has helped many swimmers over the years, particularly young ones.
“I’ve never had to do CPR,” she said. “I have jumped in multiple times to grab a kid having trouble staying above the water and starting to drown.”
Mattler said the pools at the Arnold Recreation Center are not deep, but even a little amount of water can pose dangers for visitors.
“Our pools are only, like, 3 1/2-feet deep,” she said. “Still, drowning can happen at any depth.”
Mattler said that while she feels visitors generally follow pool rules and respect the lifeguards, handling groups of people can be challenging.
“The biggest challenge as lifeguard, probably, is just people, mainly kids, not listening,” Mattler said. “I think, sometimes, there can be a group that comes in and won’t listen. But, it’s not often.”
She said telling youngsters not to run poolside is something lifeguards frequently deal with, along with monitoring the misuse of slides at the pools, such as someone trying to climb back up the slide while others are looking to slide down.
“It’s just little stuff like that,” she said. “They’re not really issues.”
She said she tries to be patient with the pool guests.
“There are always new people who don’t know the rules yet,” she said.
Mattler said she works for the company the city of Arnold contracts with to supply its lifeguards.
“I don’t work directly for Arnold Recreation Center,” she said. “We work for Midwest Pool Management, which supplies the lifeguards for the Arnold Recreation Center. Midwest Pool Management (supplies the lifeguards) for multiple other pools. They can send us to another pool if that one is short-staffed.”
The city of Arnold awarded a $723,870 contract to Midwest Pool Management to manage the rec center’s two pools for the current fiscal year, according to Arnold City Council documents.
Mattler said that while she is not aware of her company experiencing a need for lifeguards at present, there is no abundance of people to do the job either.
“I’m saying we’re fully staffed right now,” she said. “But, we always welcome new staff. We look for more.”
Midwest Pool management pays lifeguards $18.78 an hour. Head lifeguards are paid $21.21 an hour, assistant managers are paid $24.24 an hour, and managers are paid $31.51 an hour.
Mattler attends Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis and is in the nursing school program.
She said she has enjoyed her time as a lifeguard.
“I like that the hours are super flexible,” she said. “A lot of teenagers work here. We always work with people on their schedules, meet their schedule needs.”