The lifeguards at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham no doubt have some of the best seats in the house for the swimming events, but their presence has been commented on a lot during the games with people wondering why elite athletes need lifeguards.
Anyone can get in to trouble in water. No matter how many hours you’ve spent swimming, or how professional you think you, or others might be, it is not impossible for a professional athlete to be in need of assistance whilst training or indeed at a competition.
Just as professional synchronized swimmer Anita Alvarez found out when she fell unconscious mid- routine at the FINA World Championships. Thanks to the quick thinking and action of her coach, Andrea Fuentes, who dived in without hesitation to rescue her when she realised something was drastically wrong, Anita was pulled from the pool safely and survived the ordeal.
Anita Alvarez was saved from drowning by her coach after fainting in the pool at the swimming world championships. Image: Getty
Just one incident like this is enough to validate the presence of lifeguards at any swimming events, no matter what the perceived level of the athletes. Everyone deserves to be kept safe whilst competing in the sports they love.
Swim Safety provides Lifeguard cover at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games
Sandwell Aquatics Centre was purpose-built for the games, so there was no resident Lifeguard team established at the venue. As one of the UK’s leading event water safety providers, working on many triathlon and outdoor events such as Tough Mudder, Swim Safety were the obvious choice for the games to provide the lifeguarding cover at the swimming and diving events.
A team of 60 NPLQ lifeguards were assembled for the games, who all underwent additional training and NPLQ competency testing prior to the games to prepare for the specific events they would be covering.
Swim Safety Lifeguard Team undergoing training ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Credit: Seven News Australia
Only the best training tools will do
Covering the diving events meant the lifeguards would need to be confident in rescuing the athletes from the bottom of a 5m swimming pool.
Traditionally, lifeguards will train with the orange torso dummy, sometimes referred to as the ‘Tango Man’, which all the lifeguards appointed to this team were familiar with.
But director Martin Suzan wanted to make sure that every member of his team was confident and competent to respond, should the worst happen at the event.
Swim Safety Lifeguard Team are taught refreshing techniques such as CPR with Pool Rescue Manikin. Credit: Seven News Australia
Choosing the Pool Rescue Manikin for his team to train with was a no-brainer for Martin and he couldn’t be happier with the outcome of the training in the lead-up to the event saying:
“Before training for these games some of the lifeguards had never trained with the Ruth Lee Pool Rescue Manikin. Some of the smaller team members found it a little daunting to begin with when they felt the weight of the manikin on the dry land. But after a few goes they realised they did have the ability to rescue the full-bodied manikin from the bottom of the pool and felt much more confident in their abilities. “
“The team found it much more realistic working with the Pool Rescue Manikin compared to the orange torso manikin”
“Sometimes being the volunteer in the PXB can be a little intimidating due to the intimate nature of being strapped into a rescue board. Using the manikin is a great way to negate this whilst lifeguards are training and becoming familiar with their teammates.”
Luckily the games went pretty smoothly and no rescue interventions were needed this time, but Martin was proud of his team and confident in the training they have received and looks forward to adding the Pool Rescue Manikin to his collection of other Ruth Lee Manikins, such as the Man Overboard, for use in future events in Swim Safety’s calendar.
You can find out more about Swim Safety or contact them about providing cover at an event via their website here or follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.