The event formerly known as the Lifeguard Competition is back, now known as the 2007 Ellis & Associates International Lifeguard Challenge. The previous competition was put on hold after the summer of 2004 for four main reasons:

It was felt that the competition:

1. Took lifeguards away from facilities during critical times of the year.
2. Reinforced facility specific protocols, and not the “Make it Work” philosophy.
3. Judging was highly scrutinized and left a bad taste in the mouth of many.
4. Did not recognize enough lifeguards, only award winners.

A focus group was put together and included Kristi Brewer, Kristie Moses, Tim Dean, Taryn Eisenman, Nick Landry, Tanya Schaefer, Tim Baker, Aaron Karejwa, Shannon Gilman, Neal Jorgensen, Michael Edwards, and Justin Marion. These individuals were focused on addressing the issues while maintaining an event that could still be competitive and challenging. A test event was held last year at Six Flag’s New England testing the new format. Satisfied with the format and the feedback, Ellis & Associates has given the go ahead to the Lifeguard Challenge on an international platform for 2007. The new format will address all of the above issues while still providing a fun, competitive and challenging event.

For 2007, there are some changes that have been made to address the previously mentioned issues.

• Only 1 team per facility will be allowed to participate, previously 2 teams per facility were permitted. (This will reduce the pressure put on facilities to enter multiple teams with large staffs.) Regional Challenges will occur on weekdays while avoiding the July 4th holiday period. The International Challenge Final will take place prior to the 1st weekend in August to assist facilities in not losing critical staff during the closing days of summer.
• Teams from participating facilities will be made up of 2 male and 2 female lifeguard competitors (lifeguard instructors are not eligible to compete). There will be 2 scenario events and 1 team relay (same as in the past). The major difference with the Challenge will be the intermixing of teams during the scenario events. Each new team will consist of 2 male and 2 female competitors, all from different facilities. Points will be earned by the competing team and then taken back to their original facility team. The team relay will consist of all 4 original team members.
  • The mindset behind the mixing of teams is to force teams to train to the standard that is set forth in the text book. Instead of creating facility specific protocols that are heavily drilled, teams will benefit from working with as many different lifeguards as possible during their training period.
  • The newly created teams for the scenarios will be decided on site and will all have the same amount of time to “prepare” with their new team.
• The judging in the past has always been highly scrutinized and will most likely continue to be highly scrutinized. A focus will be placed on having judges focused on a particular event that will unfold within the scenario instead of the entire scenario where they would only be able to see a portion of it. Facilities/organizations will only be permitted to have 1 judge to eliminate impartiality (although Great Wolf Lodge may be represented by 3 separate facilities each bringing a team and a judge to a Regional Challenge, only 1 judge from Great Wolf would be designated to a specific event within the scenario). The goal is to ensure that the judging is conducted in the fairest possible manner. Considerable attention and focus will be paid to the judging side of the Challenge
• Finally, it was felt that there was not enough recognition for participating teams/individuals with too much emphasis on winning. More efforts will be paid on recognizing all teams/individuals. Certificates will be awarded to all participating individuals and teams. Awards will be provided for the top 5 mixed teams that place in each scenario and the top 5 teams that place in the team relay and the overall event. There will also be the coveted Spirit Award recognizing the team with the most spirit and voted on by all the teams.

In 2007, all client facilities of Ellis & Associates participating in their Comprehensive Aquatic Risk Management Program will be eligible to compete in the Challenge. In 2008 the same will apply unless a facility had an overall failed audit in the 2007 season. It was felt that if a facility fails an audit, they should not be eligible to participate and ultimately possibly win a Lifeguard Challenge. A focus would need to be on returning their program to the basics of their Risk Management Program.

The next step in this process will be determining the dates and locations of each of the Regional Challenges as well as the International Challenge Final. Inquiries are being accepted for Regional Host Facilities as well as a host facility for the International Challenge Final (please email Chris Perry if interested in being a host facility). Further details will be released regarding the Regional and International Venues and details regarding team registration.

Chris Perry
Wild Wadi
E&A Sr. Associate