Mike
Sandusky, OH
Male, 20
I worked at an extremely busy water park for about two years straight and a summer camp as a beach lifeguard. Working at a water park operating 365 days a year as well as on a beach, I've seen my fair share of interesting scenarios. I've been the good guy with the band-aid, and the bad guy who yells at your kids (for good reason trust me). I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.
Well first of all, I've never heard anyone say to just go limp when being carried by a current so I can't specifically answer your question.
What I can tell you is that there are basically two different types of currents that plague swimmers; the rip current, and the undertow. Rip currents are most common and usually occur in a lake or ocean with moderately heavy waves. These currents will pull you out further to sea and you should swim parallel with the shore until you've escaped the current and can swim back to shore. Undertows, although they may sound more dangerous, are usually fairly mild and only are a problem for inexperienced swimmers. Undertows occur in the same setting as rip tides but they will pull a swimmer under the water for a few seconds. In these scenarios, it is best to remain calm while swimming toward the surface.
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Personally, no, I did not become a lifeguard to pick up chicks. I became one out of living by the water and enjoying aquatics related activities. On the other hand, I do know some who did, and long story shortyes, it does work.
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Wendy Peffercorn from The Sandlot is the first one that comes to mind, although I'll have to take points off for not checking for a pulse or breathing before starting CPR. Other than that I've got to go with Baywatch.
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As a lifeguard, I was given a discount on any retail or food shops in the resort I worked for, but that was given to all employees of the resort, not exclusively to lifeguards.
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The training will vary slightly based on the organization doing the training. Like I've said before, I've done guard training through three different organizations but they're all pretty similar. There is a lot of classroom instruction covering various medical topics as well as some in-water training that covers different rescues and what not. The written tests are all pretty easy. If you pay attention in training it's really easy and most of the questions are common sense regardless. The hardest tests for me to pass were the timed swimming events. As long as you're a strong swimmer you'll be fine with those.
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That would be completely frowned upon. You're there to watch the water and make sure no one gets hurt. Water parks will often have music playing though.
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Just like in most other job fields, opportunity for promotion becomes higher at larger workplaces. At the water park I was at, you could usually work hard and apply for a "head guard" sort of position after 8-10 months when an opening came up. That was the most common promotion for us although there were 3-4 levels of supervision/management above the regular lifeguards. So long story short, yes, there are usually promotion opportunities at larger guarding establishments.
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