05/30/2026
Today was a tough day at the office.
A swimmer who wasn’t panicky last week, wasn’t feeling up to hard work today and decided to panic instead of finding his calm, as we usually do.
The screenshot here is an example of techniques I needed to use today, for the first time in my 35 year career.
A 5 year old becomes extremely heavy and pushes down when panicking, he forgot he was on a noodle and just grabbed my neck.
I twice to get to him off my neck as he was choking me and pushing me down.
My third and final attempt was the TUCK GRAB TOSS:
Big breath, submerge TUCK, GRAB victim’s elbows and TOSS them towards the closest edge.
Next technique was to get him back to the edge, dragged by the arm with my noodle to help me stay afloat.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN, COACH?
Because he has been using , the bicycle kick he inherently developed is dragging him down when he’s not wearing those awful floaties. Even when he is on a noodle, after successfully accomplishing this challenge last week, kicking his legs properly,
It all went out the window.
This took less than 10 seconds.
We went to sit in the steps so that I could regulate my adrenaline and regain my breath.
He was shaken up, crying, we talked about being AND to Coach when is time to PROPERLY. He got some extra free play time where I snuck in some extra practice without him realizing it.
Why thy even sell puddle jumpers that keep kids in an upright position (feet straight to the bottom) still blows my mind.
Grateful for the extensive Lifeguard Instructor Training and hundreds of in-service hours.