Hastings & St Leonards Voluntary Lifeguard Club

Rookie Lifeguards

What is Rookie Lifeguards?

Rookie Lifeguards is a programme of development, which includes water safety knowledge, how to avoid dangers, self rescue, rescue methods and resuscitation. It also means having FUN and staying fit whilst learning life skills!!!

What does this mean?

Improving your swimming technique
Improving fitness in the water
Making you a competent and confident swimmer
Learning lots of new skills and making new friends
Having lots of fun in the pool and open water sessions
Entering fun competitions
Learn how to be a lifeguard in the future
Learn to use a paddle board in the pool before trying it in the sea
Learn basic life support and first aid

How can you achieve this?

The programme is broken down into three main stages

Bronze 1 Silver 1 Gold 1
Bronze 2 Silver 2 Gold 2
Bronze 3 Silver 3 Gold 3

Each stage has a certificate and badge.

You can enter at any stage of the programme.

What do you have to do to achieve Bronze 1?

Swim 25 metres
Swim 25 metres using life saving backstroke
Improve techniques such as recognising swimmers in trouble in the pool, how to get in and out of the pool in a safe and competent manner and how to get help.

What do you have to do to achieve Gold 3?

Swim 400 metres
Ability to surface dive and pick up objects from the bottom of the pool
Ability to tow a casualty
Throwing rescues using ropes
Ability to get casualty out of the water
Resuscitation techniques such as supported rescue breathing and putting casualty into support position, etc.

What else does Rookies have to offer?

Rookies allows you to achieve high levels of competence and confidence in the water. It encourages team work and self-belief.

Once a month we have a competition within the club where all the skills are used and a lot of fun is had. Our Rookies have entered competitions elsewhere in Sussex and had great success. It could be you winning next time.

We also take our Rookies to the beach during the summer and teach them open water skills. The sessions are properly supervised and the Rookies have a brilliant time and can enter our Rookie Beach Competition.

The club has social events, an annual challenge, fun days as well as covering sea events. All our members are welcome to come along and families are very welcome to come along too.

What will these awards enable me to do?

To move on to Survive and Save awards (Bronze Medallion). There are credited for GCSE Duke of Edinburgh awards
To move on to become a Pool Lifeguard and Beach Lifeguard

What do I have to do to join?

You can be any age provided you can swim, we will help you to do the rest. We do have members as young as seven, so age is not an issue.

If you are unsure whether or not this is for you, do come along on a Friday night at 8pm at Summerfield Leisure Centre, to see what you are missing! or contact Di Cooke 07970 424669

or e mail info@hastingslifeguards.org.uk

Other Rookie information...

Rookie is a natural progression from formal swimming lessons and is now integrated into the Amateur Swimming Association's (ASA) National Plan for Teaching Swimming (NPTS) as one of the options in Stage 8, 9 and 10.

From the age of 12 most members will progress to more senior lifesaving awards (Survive and Save), all are provided by Hastings & St.Leonards Voluntary Lifeguard Club.

Rookies get to practise skills in a fun learning environment, sessions usually include a mix of swimming, lifesaving skills, personal safety, competitions and resuscitation. All our trainers have DBS certificates in line with our Child Protection Guidelines.

Trainers are supported by qualified Assistant Teachers and Instructors. As Rookies pass through the awards they get the opportunity to become Assistant Instructors which is an excellent qualification to put on their CV.