Are there lifeguards at the olympics

Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Caroline Praderio. Of the four Olympic trials where I've been a lifeguard, this year was the first we didn't have to get in the water. Yeah yeah, you would say that James - you're sitting on a golden egg.

Then again, he is a volunteer, so perhaps he's telling the truth. He explained: "It's not just the athletes we have to look after, oftentimes you have outside groups that use the pool in between trials' prelims and the finals. It is a misconception that we're useless. Unfortunately, people do get hurt, so we have a role. Of the four Olympic trials where I've been a lifeguard, this year was the first we didn't have to get in the water. I've been a lifeguard in Omaha, Nebraska, for 26 years.

The Red Cross does the lion's share of lifeguard training. I'd been working for them in , and they asked me to help out with the trials. It's not just the athletes we have to look after.

Oftentimes, you have outside groups that use the pool in between trials' preliminaries and the finals. We're lifeguarding for not only the athletes but also those events. We've never had to go in for an athlete; it's always been for everyone else. There were no outside groups allowed in. It's kind of like the fire department. Our whole goal is to be in the background. If you have to see us, generally something bad has happened. The flip side of that is if there is an emergency, and we make a mistake, it ends up on YouTube or TV — nobody wants that.

Lifeguards at these events are mostly trained to respond to medical problems or injuries where the person can't get out of the pool.

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