Lifeguard

Late August 1967—I was completing my last week as the town lifeguard in the small village of Ashcroft, British Columbia. In September I would be starting my freshman year at the University of California, San Diego, I was heading home to get ready.  As excited as I was about college, I was sad to be leaving.

I had the job thanks to my Uncle Tom who was the general manager of the nearby Bethlehem Copper Mine.  Ashcroft was a small town, 1,500 residents more or less, and the mine was by far the town's largest employer. Never exactly sure of the politics behind my hiring, I knew that my uncle had considerable clout in the village. Armed with my water safety instructor's certificate, several bathing suits, and more self-confidence than I should have had, I arrived to begin my job as lifeguard, swimming instructor, and swim team coach.

Before that summer my only jobs had been babysitting and while I was responsible for the few children in my care it wasn't anywhere near the same kind of responsibility as guarding a big pool full of rowdy, splashing kids. Although I had not taught, I had been assisting with classes for years, had been on the swim team and the water ballet team, too. I had gotten up early many mornings for swim team practice, but I didn't have to clean the pool before it opened.

Village of Ashcroft pool

The town pool was more than a little run down, especially by Southern California standards, but swimmable. My duties were many and my days long. Cleaning and chlorinating the pool, swim classes from 9 to noon, then free swim from 1-5 when it was time for swim team practice or adult lessons.  The pool was closed in the evenings, and there were occasional days off.

Lucky for me my brother Jimmy, two years my junior, was in Ashcroft that summer, too. Uncle Tom had him working at the mine. My uncle and Aunt Nena had no children, nor much experience with any from what we could tell. Now they had two teenagers living with them for the summer, an arrangement that required a lot of accommodation all around.

There wasn't much to do in in the little town in the evenings. We met a few locals and sometimes joined them for cokes and chips with gravy. Most nights, exhausted from our days, we would sneak down to the living room to listen to records. "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" had been recently released and we played it at low volume countless times.

For years I had spent my summer days at the high school pool, swimming or hanging out with my brother, our friends, and the lifeguards. Now I was the one with the whistle, but I sensed the same kind of camaraderie among the kids. They were alternately smart alecky and kind, they pushed the limits but straightened up when I yelled.

Portrait of the lifeguard by one of her swimmers

With few days off, my best adventures were swim meets in the surrounding towns where my intrepid little team was remarkably successful winning more than their share of races and taking home trophies.

Winning swimmers

One day we ran out of chlorine; it wasn't my job to order it, just to make sure the pool was clean. I closed the pool and walked to the town offices. The mayor had heard what I had done and wasn't happy.

"If the pool is closed, the kids will swim in the Thompson with its dangerous currents. Kids have drowned in the river."

 “Well, it won't be on my watch. I can't open the pool if I can't see the bottom. Kids could drown there, too."

The pool remained closed. That afternoon I walked by to make sure everything was still locked, and no one was about. As I rounded the outbuilding where the chlorine was stored, I found the son of the town doctor playing with matches. Back to the town offices with the bratty kid in tow. No one was happy to see me again. Someone would call the doctor or the doctor's wife.  Explaining my day to my uncle and aunt over dinner I felt proud of myself, if a little beaten down. I hadn't realized the full extent of my job description.

Too soon it was time to leave. I would miss the little community of swimmers, my kids. I would not be back. The following summer the town hired three lifeguards.

 It was the toughest job I have ever had and one of the most rewarding.