It’s no secret that our team loves to Celebrate – after all, we made a whole Core Value out of it! There’s nothing we can’t have a fintastic celebration for. But, some things and some days call for a little extra celebration – like International Lifeguard Appreciation Day! This day is marked as July 31st on the calendar, but let’s face it, lifeguards deserve appreciation and celebration every day! We’re putting our fins together to celebrate and recognize the lifeguards working to save and change lives in our Goldfish Swim Schools across North America.

Goldfish Lifeguards: An Essential Part of Who We Are! 

When you think of a lifeguard, you may think of the classic bright red gear, the whistle hanging from their neck, and a movie producer’s favorite touch – a sunblock-covered nose. Behind their signature look is a common purpose — keeping everyone in the water safe! At Goldfish, we ALWAYS have a lifeguard on deck (none of which have sunblock covered noses, because there aren’t any sunburns happening in our indoor tropical environment!). In addition to our lifeguards, we also have a certified lifeguard instructor at each location. This team member is specially trained to teach each of our new lifeguards as they come onboard, and make sure that they are 100% ready to keep every kiddo, team member and guest safe when in the pool.

The primary role of each of our lifeguards is to ensure the safety of our swimmers, swim instructors and anyone else that may hop into the water for swim lessons, Swim Force, or family swims. You’ll see them standing alongside the pool, constantly scanning the water and ready to jump into action. Water safety is their #1 priority, like it is for all of us at Goldfish!

While it’s no secret that we love to have fun at Goldfish Swim School, lifeguard training is serious business. It takes training, training, and more training! Because this is such an important – literally life-saving role, we take it very seriously, providing the necessary training for our crew to be successful. Each of our lifeguards completes the International Lifeguard Training Program™ (ILTP®) through Jeff Ellis and Associates, Inc.

Jeff Ellis and Associates are the industry leader in aquatic safety, as it’s their ONLY focus – only the best for our members and team! Needless to say, lifeguards completing this program walk away with a ton of valuable knowledge. It’s a well-rounded program that not only teaches water rescue techniques, but additional skills like professionalism, first aid and CPR. Goldfish Lifeguards are taught through simulations, drills and exercises that give them the skills they need to be prepared for a water emergency.

At the end of the course: trained, confident, ready-to-take-on-the-pool lifeguards. Plus, they continue going through additional training programs every few weeks to keep their skills fresh!

Being a lifeguard is a big job! And sure, they say lots of jobs are ‘big jobs’, but we really mean it with this one. These are the team members that our crew, leaders and members owe our safety to – without them, we’d be nothing. No, literally, we actually refuse to hold lessons without a lifeguard on duty!

Life’s a pool of possibilities when you work at Goldfish!

The skills our lifeguards learn push them into the world beyond our four walls (though we wish they’d stick around here forever – which some do!). They learn to be confident, concise, and attentive. They learn to be brave, to communicate effectively and efficiently, and so much more!

According to Indeed, some of the top skills employers are looking for in 2022 are communication skills, problem-solving and critical thinking, leadership and teamwork. Being a team member at Goldfish helps make waves in the pool, and in careers! Not only is being a lifeguard at Goldfish a golden experience, it’s helping to develop the skills needed to accomplish big dreams and goals – like even opening their own Goldfish Swim School some day! Some of our lifeguards have also gone on to become first responders, business professionals, leaders and more!

One fintastic example: our very own Director of Training here at Goldfish Swim School Franchising, Nikki Thomas, is a former lifeguard! She still finds herself drawing on skills that she gained and strengthened during her time as a lifeguard. In addition to the skills mentioned above, Nikki also said, “When I think about some of the major skills it taught me, it probably taught me empathy first and foremost. Compassion for others as well too.” Nikki found such a passion from lifeguarding that she has made it her entire career – she has trained well over 1,000 lifeguards and lifeguard instructors in partnership with Ellis & Associates!

Long story short, we have some serious celebrating to do! These lifeguards are such a big piece of our schools and our pools, and we are so excited to spend the day showing our appreciation for them – and we hope you do, too! (Hint, hint, lifeguards love high-fives.)

Think you have what it takes to join our swimsational group of lifeguards?! Swim into opportunity and learn more about the pool of possibilities that await our life savers, life changers and wavemakers!!

We at Goldfish Swim School Franchising acknowledge the current state of the lifeguarding industry and the shortages faced across the nation. Our individually-owned-and-operated schools remain committed to a safety-first mentality, and to continuing to provide the best training, opportunities and leadership so that our team members feel empowered, confident and trusted while making waves in their communities, and in their careers. As mentioned above, a certified lifeguard is always required to be on deck when anyone is in the pool, and each school has a Certified Lifeguard Instructor on their team, to assure every team member is prepared, trained and certified before taking a lifeguard shift. Safety is, and always will be our #1 priority, and we are thankful and grateful to our fin-ominal team of lifeguards every day!