OKALOOSA ISLAND— Nine-year-old Elle Brock jumped up and down with her hand stretched up high as she asked to be a victim.
“We’re doing some rescuing exercises,” Elle said as suntan lotion showed on her wet face. “I’m learning how to become a lifeguard and save people.”
Elle was one of a dozen youths on the beach Thursday morning participating in Okaloosa County Beach Safety’s Junior Lifeguard program.
“The purpose of this program is to raise a community of people who understand the risks of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Lindsey Smith, the junior program coordinator for the Beach Safety Division. “We start with these kids learning about how to be safe at the beach and we’re adding to that community of people who know about beach safety.”
Watch the junior lifeguards at work. >>
Children coming out of the program can identify various types of currents, learn about the beach, shadow lifeguards and become ambassadors for beach safety.
The annual program began eight years ago for youths 9 to 17. Advanced junior lifeguards train year-round and compete in the United States Lifesaving Association’s Southeast James “Mac” MacCarthy Regional and Junior Lifesaving Championships.
“What’s great about this is we have an opportunity to raise kids from 9, 10, 11 years old into being lifeguards that work on our beach,” Smith said.
One soon-to-be graduate, 17-year-old Sterling Morgan, said he will start patrolling beaches when he turns 18.
Morgan cautioned that the program is not for the faint of heart. His daily training includes two miles of swimming, four miles of running and countless hours of education on beach safety.
“I would recommend it to anybody,” he said. “It betters you as a person. You learn teamwork, get fit. It makes you into a whole new level of yourself you didn’t know you could be.”
Since starting the program three years ago, he has built up his endurance, learned lifeguarding skills and has become familiar with the beach.
“I think saving somebody’s life would be a really cool feeling,” Morgan said. “Things happen out here, crazy things, and somebody’s got to be there.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.
