Pathway to becoming a Beach Lifeguard !

From Nipper to Beachlifeguard...…

By Alannah Crowley, Beachguard Inchydoney Team 2017

Practice pays off when you work your way up from an eager 8-year-old training with the Cork Nippers to securing a Beach Lifeguard position on one of our beautiful Cork Beaches. 

Surf Lifesaving originates from Australia but has gained popularity and has spread to the majority of countries by the sea. Surf Lifesaving is the competitive side of lifeguarding and gives Lifeguards a motivation to train hard and a platform to showcase their skills and talents. Individual races include sea swimming, board paddling, soft sand sprinting, fast reaction games and ski paddling. There are also team races which are “rescue-like” and enables lifeguards to use their team skills to rescue victims.

Children join Surf Lifesaving Clubs as “Nippers” at the age of 7 where they learn water safety, sea skills, and gain love, respect and appreciation for the ocean and the lifeguards who protect it. Coming up through Surf Lifesaving as a Nipper gave me the confidence to know what to do in an emergency situation and has taught me the importance of fitness for being a lifeguard.

Now out of 39 lifeguards employed on Cork beaches, almost half of those have at some stage or are currently still competing and training with Cork Surf Lifesaving Club. There are also Cork Lifeguards with Munster, All-Ireland and World medals for Surf Lifesaving.  Log on to Cork Water Safety Facebook page for details of how to get involved.  

This year there were three lifeguards competing in the Junior Surf Lifesaving Championships- namely Sally Naughton, Gwen McCarthy and Caimin Crowley. They competed in the Munster Championships held in Youghal, Cork, where they then qualified for the All-Ireland Finals held in Curracloe, Wexford. All three of them had top 16 finishes, and Gwen McCarthy picked up a third place medal in the surf ski final.

On the 23^rd of September, a team of lifeguards will go to Donegal to compete in the Senior Surf Lifesaving Championships. They will be able to put their all hard work and efforts training this summer to good use. Wishing them the best of luck J



Some photos of our Beachguards at various competitions when they were involved with the Cork Surf Lifesaving Teams......

Cork Co. Council Beachlifeguard Jobs are advertised in March of each year.  Keep an eye on the Cork Co. Council Website.  Many of the Nippers have gone on to work as beachlifeguards and report of the great job satisfaction that goes with the position.  Great one for the CV also with many ex-beachlifeguards saying that the fact they worked in this type of responsible position helped them on the journey to a successful outcome careerwise.  Many former staff have gone into Medicine, Teaching, Food Science, Paramedics, The Aircore,  The Navy, The Caring Professions to name but a few.