Arlington lifeguards dive into competition

The 20th annual Lifeguard Competition hosted by the Arlington Heights Park District last weekend looked like a takeoff of the Hugh Grant movie, "Four Weddings and A Funeral."

Originally developed as a training activity -- testing lifeguards on different rescues -- this mid-summer event now opens with a "spirit competition" and increasingly, the six Arlington Heights pool staffs have taken it to new levels.

The competition took place Saturday at Olympic Indoor Swim Center in Arlington Heights. Most of the park district's 249 summer lifeguard staff, drawing from Camelot, Frontier, Heritage, Olympic, Pioneer and Recreation pools, was on hand, competing before a packed audience in the bleachers.

"This has taken on a life of its own," said Steve Neill, aquatic program supervisor. "Every year, it gets bigger and bigger."

Two of the pool staffs, Camelot and Heritage, dressed up in wedding attire complete with a bride and groom as they performed their skits, while Olympic staffers dressed as the "Night of the Living Dead."

Frontier guards called their skit, "Froceans 25" as they played a Las Vegas theme, while Recreation staff members employed a game show theme, with "The Price is Rec!"

Pioneer Pool wound up winning the spirit competition, however, with their staff dressed in outlandish 1980s workout clothes, as they performed around the theme, "PIO Workout World."

Besides having the largest staff in the district, with 74 teens working at the pool, including 51 lifeguards, Pioneer proved to have the most spirit -- and energy -- to win the evening's most coveted award, for the sixth straight year.

With the skits completed, staff members got down to business, competing in eight competitive events. They ranged from conscious and unconscious rescues to responding to a surprise spinal injury and a relay race carrying equipment, and winding up with a six-person relay race, in the pool.

Recreation Pool's staff earned the competitive award, with their top place finishes in the rescues and relay.

"The competition is serious," Neill said. "Each pool has their own strategies for each of the events, but in the end, they all work hard for the community of Arlington Heights."

The event reinforces the response and rescue skills that staff members work on all summer. Their skills need to stay fresh, Neill adds, pointing to the 35 rescues made already this summer, among all six pools.