CLEARWATER, Fla. — The summer weather is here! And at one of America's favorite beaches, it stays busy, not just now, but all year long. To keep Clearwater Beach safe, the lifeguard recruitment efforts start early.
These kids shown below might be the ones manning the lifeguard stand in a few years. Each year, Clearwater Fire and Rescue hosts its junior lifeguard training camp.
"These kids learn valuable information on basic first aid, water rescue, in-water conditions, beach safety, water safety, and things like that," Patrick Brafford said. Brafford is the Clearwater Beach Lifeguard manager.
The program is for kids, ages 8 to 16, teaching them how to have a safe beach experience and what to do in an emergency.
"As many people as we invite in that live here, we have a due diligence and a duty to protect them," Brafford said. "That's why it's so important that we have a lifeguard service here."
A recently hired Clearwater Beach lifeguard is Dylan Feger. He's 17 and an alum of the lifeguard summer training program.
"In my free time trying to come out here more and help out," Feger said. "We do need more lifeguards, and then whenever I can, I come out."
Clearwater Fire and Rescue is always hiring additional lifeguards. Right now, they're looking to fill five part-time openings. This week, junior lifeguards learn how to administer CPR, conduct a water rescue, and use lifeguard equipment, like rescue boards.
"It's a lot to take in," 11-year-old Quynh Tollon said. "But like if it's going to help somebody if you might need it one day," Tollon says that now she wants to be a lifeguard using her newly-acquired lifesaving skills to help others.
"Rescuing people would probably be a big thing because like tourists go here, they are probably going to need help," Tollon said.
She is one of the roughly two dozen children participating in this week's training camp.
Clearwater Beach has seven lifeguard towers. In a couple of years, you may just see the kids taking these courses now, in those towers, keeping you safe.
"It's like one little kid can do like crazy big things as being a lifeguard. It's just cool," Tollon said.
Clearwater Beach, Sarasota, and Manatee counties are the only three areas on the Gulf Coast to staff their beaches with lifeguards year-round.
Not every beach has a lifeguard. In Pinellas County, there are 25 full-time Lifeguard positions budgeted for the County’s three regional beach parks. Those parks include Fort Desoto, Sand Key and Fred Howard.
Of the 25 positions the county budgets for, 16 positions are currently filled. A Pinellas County spokesperson said the Parks and Conservation Resources Department continues to recruit for the remaining vacancies.
For the city of St. Petersburg, lifeguards are hired for community pools. There are just eight positions open, with 117 lifeguards currently on staff.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.