Become a lifeguard and join a great staff team with the YMCA. The YMCA offers pre-employment lifeguard certification classes. Upon successful completion, you can move into the hiring process with the YMCA as a certified lifeguard. The course provides entry-level participants the knowledge and skills to prevent, recognize and respond to aquatic emergencies and to provide care for breathing and cardiac emergencies, injuries, and sudden illnesses until EMS personnel take over. The course is a blend of in-person and online learning.
A pre-test is given before the first official day of the training course. Pre-test requirements include being able to swim 300 yards doing this:
- Front crawl with rotary breathing and breaststroke
- Swim 20 yards
- Surface dive to a minimum depth of 7 feet to retrieve a 10 lb. brick
- Return to the starting point
- Tread water for 2 minutes using their legs
