FORT RILEY, Kan. -- "Face down!" yelled Hedy Noveroske, Aquatics program manager for the Directorate of the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. "You've got to get your face in the water!"
Noveroske, along with Judy Gardner, water safety instructor for DFMWR, led about 50 Soldiers through the three pretests required July 7 before they could take their lifeguard certification courses at Eyster Pool. The pretests and future lifeguard training courses were arranged through Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers as part of their Life Skills Training program.
"Today, we're working on lifeguarding," said Cristian Gomez, BOSS treasurer and assigned to 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. "We're actually working on a couple things -- things that will benefit us through life. We've done a fire-starting class, we're working on hunting skills. We think (lifeguarding) is a good skill to have in case of an emergency."
The three pretests included a 300-yard swim demonstrating the breaststroke and freestyle swimming styles with rhythmic breathing. A brick test which required participants to swim 20 yards, dive down 8 feet, collect a brick and then swim back to their start point on their back with the brick held against their torso with both hands. One the returned to the start point, they had to exit the pool without the assistance of a ladder and the brick test had to be completed within one minute and 40 seconds. The last phase was a two minute water tread with the hands tucked into their armpits so they could not use them.
When the Soldier passed all three pretests, they were qualified to enroll in the lifeguard certification classes, Gardner said. Each class will have about 10 participants.
"We'll probably have a couple of different training classes," she said. "A group of 10 takes about three days. They'll learn all the lifeguarding skills, CPR, AED (automated external defibrillator) and first aid for the professional rescuer. They get an American Red Cross certification that's good for two years and American Red Cross certifications are accepted all over the U.S. and abroad."
Many of the Soldiers were trying to become lifeguards for their units so they could use the pool for physical training. Offering PT in a pool could assist Soldiers by diversifying their exercises, said Spc. Coleman Reed, 601st Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Inf. Div.
Reed said the pretests were more challenging than he anticipated, but he is glad he pushed himself through and completed them.
"I didn't know if I could complete it, so I wanted to know if I could do the challenge," he said.
Pfc. Luke Keilig, 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regt., 2nd ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., said he volunteered to become a lifeguard because he enjoyed lifeguarding in the summers at home when he was a teen. He added he wanted to be able to save lives.
"If anybody doesn't know how to swim needs help or is in immediate danger, I'm there to help," he said. "The more people we have that are lifeguard certified -- It doesn't matter whether you're at the river, the lake or a pool, they're always there to help in any situation needed."
A majority of the Soldiers passed the three pretests and will be moving forward with their lifeguard certification training pending future class availability, Gardner said. She also said she was impressed by the number of people who showed up and the number who successfully completed the pretests.
"I was very pleased," Gardner said. "We had some outstanding swimmers."
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