JCC Lifeguards Place 5th in Regional Competition

With their 5th place showing at the Greater Ohio Lifeguard Competition in July, the JCC lifeguards will be competing in the state competition on Sunday, Aug. 3 in Mason, Ohio.

"There were 21 teams that participated in the competition at The Ohio State University Natatorium on July 13," said Jo Miller. The team from the JCC included: Yaniv Levi, Scott O'Meara, Catherine Eitel and Jeremy Schwarz.

"The team excelled in a variety of skills events," said Jo. "The first event was an active drowning victim rescue that was performed in record time by Catherine.

"The second event was a spinal injury. Yaniv and Jeremy performed the all the appropriate procedures for this event, which entailed inline stabilization, back boarding of the victim, lifting the victim to the deck, and performing the correct care that was needed," she said.

"The third event highlighted the JCC lifeguards' competence when they performed Rescue Breathing, CPR, and the use of an AED on an unconscious victim," said Jo. "The fourth event was a demonstration done by Scott to provide first aid care to an injured victim who had fallen from a ladder and appeared to have broken his arm.

"The fifth event involved deep water rescue performed by Catherine. She had one of the best times in this event. The last event was the lifeguard relay. The objective of this event was for the team to perform the proper techniques of a rescue from activating the emergency action plan, proper entrance in the water and swimming while focusing on the victim at all times," said Jo. "I can't begin to tell you how proud I am as a parent," said Janet Schwarz, whose son, Jeremy, competed. "He takes lifeguarding very seriously because he knows that at any moment, he may be called upon to help save someone's life. A competition like this not only sharpens those skills, it's also a lot of fun for them."

Interested in Lifeguarding?

If you or someone you know is interested in earning their lifeguard certification, a course is being offered at the JCC from Monday, Aug. 11 through Thursday, Aug. 14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Fee is $180 and includes all materials. To download the registration form, click here.

In addition, the JCC also will be offering a Water Safety Instructor course from Friday, Aug. 15 through Friday, Aug. 22. This course, taught by Megan Elder-McCoy, also will be $180 and includes all materials. To download the registration form, click here.

For more information on either of these programs, contact Jo at (614) 559-6241 or via e-mail at jmiller@columbusjcc.org.