Take a Dip in the Pierce Pool
By Addison Frye
Summer is the perfect time to lay back and relax at your local pool, and for Pierce, that is a common activity. Not only can a person enjoy the pool as a patron, but many young people start their first job as a lifeguard.
Lifeguards at the pool have their work cut out for them. One of the hardest jobs as a lifeguard has to be the training. Initial training lasts four days, the first day of training includes hours of online video and testing making this day the most difficult; however, the next three days are spent learning rescues, saves, CPR, first aid, and common pool knowledge.
Once the initial training is completed the certification is good for two more years; the recertification is a one day course allowing the lifeguard to continue to work for another two years.
Another difficult task is arguably a lot of people's favorite part about summer: the heat. “The hardest part is sitting in the heat when it’s 100+ degrees outside for 40 minutes and not getting sunburned or dehydrated,.” Raleigh Pfeiffer, a first year lifeguard at the Pierce pool says. Lifeguards can still have fun while at work. Pfeiffer notes that her favorite activities during her summer as a lifeguard are swimming lessons for little kids and swimming during breaks with other guards.
If someone is looking for a more sophisticated activity to do during their free time at the pool, they should talk to Michelle Meier. She runs the water aerobics group at the Pierce pool.
“I enjoy the conversations with the ladies and just knowing that some of them that come in there, this is their way to be free. You can do more in the pool exercising than some people can do on land, and it's good for your joints. It's just a little bit more of a freeing and different exercise, especially in the heat of the summer,” Meier says when asked about why she enjoys teaching water aerobics.
Before moving here Meier was a fitness instructor and enjoyed water aerobics. She went around town and quite a few ladies seemed interested. So she contacted the city to see if the pool would be available for the summer. She has done water aerobics for four summers now.
Summer water aerobics were scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday while Tuesday and Thursday were at noon.
Join in on the fun at the pool next summer if interested in fellowship with the community in Pierce.
