In order to get a job as a lifeguard at BYU-Idaho, applicants must go through tryouts that determine whether they are the best for the job.  

 “Tryouts are at the beginning of the semester and they take the people with the highest scores,” said Colby Gray, a junior studying exercise science.

Gray said that tryouts consist of three different stations: the CPR station, the submerged unconscious victim station and the spinal station.

Tryouts also include two pass or fail tests that require the students to retrieve a 10-pound brick from the bottom of the pool at 16 feet deep. 

Lifeguards are also required to swim 500 yards in less than 12 minutes.

Gray said that when he tried out, around 40 people tried out for only three spots.

BYU-I provides lifeguard training and testing during tryouts through the Red Cross. According to www.redcross.org, “Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow started the American Red Cross Life Saving Corps in 1914 in order to reduce the number of lives lost as a result of drowning. Today, the Red Cross continues to offer the highest quality of training standards and program materials.” 

“We usually work between nine to 13 hours a week,” Gray said.

Gray is also a volunteer at St. Anthony hospital, as an emergency medical technician. Gray said that he is able to provide basic life support.

“We’re the ones who show up when people get hurt on the dunes and call 911,” Gray said.

Jori Neibaur, a senior studying health science, said that students have to try out one semester then try out again for another semester, before they are considered as a permanent employee.

“When I got on staff, there were only three open spots[for the semester],” Neibaur said.

Neibaur is a lifeguard instructor, which means she is also one of the testers during tryouts.

“I really enjoy the environment here, it’s a job that you can keep throughout your college career,” Neibaur said.

Neibaur has been lifeguarding on campus for seven semesters and she was a swim coach for kids ages 5 to 18 in high school.

“It’s not a matter of can you do it right or wrong — it’s a matter of, can you do it better than everyone else,” Neibaur said.