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Lifeguard Teddy Evans heads to the water at Narragansett Town Beach for a training session last week. He grew up in town and has worked for Narragansett Surf and Rescue for six years.

Lifeguard Teddy Evans heads to the water at Narragansett Town Beach for a training session last week. He grew up in town and has worked for Narragansett Surf and Rescue for six years.

Alexandra Provost of Narragansett sat atop of her lifeguard chair at Scarborough State Beach eyes constantly on the rippling morning water, head moving back and forth from left to right. Her concentration was focused.

“Typically, a good lifeguard is a dry lifeguard,” the 21-year-old town resident said with some dry humor as well. “You have to keep people safe at all times and by doing that it can help keep you out of the water and from needing to save people.”

Not far away, at South Kingstown Town Beach, Kendra Gever, 20, is assistant captain of that beach’s lifeguards. She also sits atop a tall chair and rotates on and off as all lifeguards do to keep safe from heat and to restore their attention.

“You get really good at it with time,” she said about a day in the life of a lifeguard. These beach guardians of safety can mean the difference between life and death for swimmers in peril caught under ocean waves or towed outward by rip currents at South County’s sandy destinations for locals and tourists alike.

Their daily job involves far more than sitting on a tall chair, getting tan, talking to each other, drinking water and blowing whistles for a variety of reasons.  

Behind the scenes, they are prepared and trained to be the first responders at the beach — where few people know enough about the job to thank them for their service.

They look to see happenings on the water and what might be going on underneath whether rip currents or shark fins, confront a variety of medical issues that can strike swimmers and sunbathers, have communication and teamwork both effortless and done with precision and must know protocols for handling unexpected issues beyond just a rescue.

And that’s just the beginning.

“I can tell you that every day there’s something different,” said Mike Florio, 47 and a guard for 28 years. “You’re going to see something you haven’t seen before.”

It’s a daily job, say all the lifeguards interviewed for this story, where training, experience, mentoring and vigilance help to prevent many more dramatic scenes that those visiting a beach might see without guards’ diligence and vigilance.

Training started before any guard climbs the ladder to their chair or station.

There are hours of certification requirements, physical endurance tests, mental agility and ongoing water drills, including staged rescues to keep these lifesavers on point.

Florio, Narragansett Surf and Rescue captain and waterfront director, said that in Narragansett, as with other local and state beaches, there are also daily exercise workouts for the guards to keep them in shape.

These include frequent swimming exercises, paddling on a surfboard or in a kayak and running.

In addition, there are reviews of medical issues that need to be addressed each day so that lifeguards are familiar with immediate treatment for heart attacks, sunstroke, heat exhaustion, bee stings, injuries with feet in the water and other emergencies that need immediate treatment at the beach.

Observation techniques, no different than a doctor checking for symptoms, are part of their training. Most often they are looking for swimmers in the water or patrons on the beach encountering or about to stumble into problems, Provost at Scarborough State Beach pointed out.

Some of the signs include no forward movement, heads bobbing up and down in the water and inability to get out of the water if caught in a rip current, difficulty stepping from an underwater drop-off, she said.

All three lifeguards also noted that assessing the water, the rip currents and waves is the first review done when getting on the chair.

“When I come in every day,” Florio said, “I look at the water — is the surf up or down? If it’s up, I know it’s going to be a busy day, possibly with a lot of rescues.”

“If it’s down, I’m thinking that by about noon or so we’re doing to start seeing people with heat exhaustion,” he added.

These are the patterns that have developed over decades of watching the water change every day. There’s always a chance for safe swimming one day and hazards the next, even in the same spot.

“Each chair has a different view of the water. The water in front may have different channels where rips are and where people need to be steered clear of going into them,” he said.

That on-the-water view is something that the older guards — there are several in Narragansett over the age of 35 — teach the younger ones, he pointed out.

The same mentoring happens at other town and the state beaches as well.

Watching hundreds of people in the water can pose a challenge for new people, but those with experience know what to look for, he and others said.

“When I spot a little kid who might be a weaker swimmer, I keep an eye on him or her. It’s second nature to notice those things that can go wrong,” said South Kingstown’s Kendra Gever, who is spending her fifth summer as a lifeguard.

It also means having each other’s backs when whistles blow — including the three blows that signal a rescue is needed and an immediate response from available guards is demanded.

Then there are also questions from beachgoers. The most frequently asked:

“When is high tide?” Dry towels are a must at the beach so that approaching tide needs to be avoided, these guards point out with a laugh.

It’s also more than a job. It’s a way of life for some. It comes, for most, with a passion for swimming.

These guards talk about being on high school or college swim teams and the allure of athletics as reasons they decided to become lifesavers. On the beach, they get that chance to put that interest to good use for the public, they said.

“I grew up here and was a swimmer and continue to swim competitively at college,” said Provost, who is a senior at the University of Alabama. Her father, Mark, also sat atop those lifeguard chairs so she knows the job and she knows what it takes to do the job.

Gever, also a competitive swimmer, said that influenced her decision to become a guard as well as her older sister, Caitlyn, who had been a lifeguard.

“The more you work, the more you pick up on little things,” said Gever, a University of Rhode Island student, during an interview when off the chair and in the rustic break building at the South Kingstown town beach.

On the other hand, the much older Florio said that safety, community and a personal commitment to athleticism keep him going each year.  

“I think I have such a passion for fitness and such a passion for lifeguarding,” he said. “It’s highly competitive…and I like being around some of the best athletes in Rhode Island,” he added about the other guards at Narragansett Town Beach, which he feels has the best in the state.

The passion pays off for others who know little about it. For instance, there was an elderly man Florio rescued once.

For several years he kept in touch. “He told me, ‘I looked at my wedding ring at that last moment I wanted to say goodbye. The lights went out and next, I woke up on the shore. Thank you for giving me one more year with my wife.’”

Provost said that she has done about 15 rescues as well as assists and Gever said she’s never had to save someone yet, but has been assisted with others in water rescues.

When that moment comes, though, all said that the adrenaline rush takes away any fear of getting it wrong or being unable to save someone. The focus is on the positive.

Echoing the sentiments of Florio and Provost, Gever said, “I honestly don’t feel that apprehensive. We do a lot of training and we (lifeguards) are on the same page. Being part of rescues, you have other staff run down from the pavilion and it makes it less scary because you have lots of help.”

Both Gever and Provost said they didn’t see themselves sitting on a lifeguard chair 28 years from now like Florio who started when he was 18 years old. They expect life’s journeys will take them to other passions, other interests.

Florio isn’t quite there yet.

“I don’t know how many more summers I have left,” he said, looking at the glistening water, the early morning sun rising and another day ahead of him. “I know that one of these days I won’t. I want to look back and say I had one the best parts of my life here at Narragansett Town Beach.”

Florio said he takes price in being a Narragansett lifeguard.

“This is my everything,” he said. “Besides my family, this beach means everything to me. I don’t want to let this part of my life go.”

Write to Bill Seymour, freelance writer covering news and feature stories, at independent.southcountylife@gmail.com.

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