Lifeguards trained at De Anza College get jobs

Graduates of the lifeguard training program at De Anza College who are now head lifeguards, aquatic directors or facility managers come back to help teach the class, give free tutoring and recruit employees.

De Anza lifeguard training classes have more students than the average at other facilities. Some graduates of the class have become lifeguard instructors and come back as volunteers to help teach. Introductions to them are posted at: volunteer lifeguard instructors

A note from one of them:

"I took the American Red Cross Lifeguard Training course and American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor course just for fun. The knowledge and skills these courses have taught me led me to pursue a career in Aquatics as a lifeguard and swim instructor. Not only did I enter the career field fully certified and prepared, but I also entered it with more certifications and experience than most other candidates.

The additional training Mary Donahue provided in the Lifeguard Management portion of the course has helped me advance my career from a lifeguard/swim instructor to a head lifeguard, and now I am the Aquatics Coordinator at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos.

Not only do I highly recommend these American Red Cross courses to persons interested in pursuing a career in Aquatics, but I also highly recommend hiring lifeguards who took their training at De Anza College. I know that these lifeguards/swim instructors will join my company with not only the skills and certifications necessary to ensure a safe pool environment and teach effective swim lessons, but I also know that they will bring professionalism and strong leadership skills as well.

Sincerely,

Sylvia Lam

Aquatics Coordinator

Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center"

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and this note from a YMCA administrator:

"De Anza guards are more confident and more attentive due to the intensity and length of their training."

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and from a private pool: "The lifeguards I recruit from Mary's classes are more thoroughly trained and more mature than those who have certified elsewhere."

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and from another private pool:

"The lifeguards that Mary Donahue and De Anza produce are knowledgeable and reliable. They are also more mature and flexible to learn even more. I will continue to recruit from her classes."

Tiago Pedro, Aquatic Manager, Saratoga Star Aquatics, March 5, 2013

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see also: Student learning outcomes in lifeguard training

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Answers to these questions:

To become a lifeguard, do I have to have a perfect freestyle?

Do I have to be a fast swimmer?

If I have the time, what can I do to get ready for class?

Doesn't a lifeguard need a lot of physical strength?

Isn't it difficult to rescue a heavy person who is sinking to the bottom of a pool?

Do lifeguards have to know how to dive?

What do students think about the De Anza lifeguard class?

Why take a lifeguard training class?

How much does lifeguard training cost?

If I don't want, or don't really have the time for a lifeguard job, can I still get experience?

What are the Red Cross certification written tests like?

When is lifeguard training offered?

Can I get the Red Cross swim teacher certification during the same quarter as the lifeguard training class?

And details about the prerequisite swim tests are at: Lifeguard Training FAQs