Richard Levitt shares about why he enjoys being a lifeguard.
A friend of a friend wondered out loud whether my job as a lifeguard was boring … and I do spend a lot of time staring into pools, ironically — as a swimmer myself — watching others in the water … But boring? No way. It’s fascinating.
First of all, it requires extreme vigilance — which is the most un-boring thing ever.
And I love water and swimming, so just being there is pretty cool. At the big 12-lane lap pool, I see every kind of swimmer swimming every kind of swim. Nobody even enters the water the same way: some step, jump, leap, stride or scoot … every swimmer knows just getting in is sometimes the hardest part of the workout.
During the early morning lap swim, fit, trained swimmers rip through the water with remarkable technique and stamina. In the afternoon older, more cautious swimmers, some exerting tremendous effort just to make it across the pool. Rest of the day it’s everyone in between. Some even have business meetings, kicking across the pool in pairs.
The kiddie pool has parent/baby swim classes which are the most adorable thing you can imagine … they bounce and splash in the warm water, singing songs and playing games … babies cooing and laughing with delight … adoring parents swishing them back and forth.
And sometimes, when there’s nobody in that shallow pool, the water forms little eddies which cast magical shadows on the white plaster below. They gently wind into Fibonacci spirals, with whirlpools going one way and little bubbles going the other. I watch them form, concentrate into a dense center, then dissipate into ripples. I witness the cosmos leaving an ephemeral thumbprint … right there in front of me.
Boring? Hardly. With a Perspective, I’m Richard Levitt.
Richard Levitt is a writer and producer who lives in Oakland; he also teaches body movement including self defense, yoga and swimming.