WAILUA — While it appeared the two dozen young people were having fun in the sun at Lydgate Beach Park on Tuesday, they were indeed learning valuable lifesaving skills. The young people at Lydgate Beach Park were enjoying the second
WAILUA — While it appeared the two dozen young people were having fun in the sun at Lydgate Beach Park on Tuesday, they were indeed learning valuable lifesaving skills.
The young people at Lydgate Beach Park were enjoying the second day of the week-long Kaua‘i Junior Lifeguard program training session, which opened Monday at both the Lydgate and Salt Pond beach parks.
Registration for the Kaua‘i Junior Lifeguard program is still being accepted for the future programs that will take place at Hanalei and Po‘ipu during the week of July 19-23, and at Kalapaki Beach during the week of July 26-30.
Application forms are available at all lifeguard towers on Kaua‘i as well as at the Kaua‘i Fire Department headquarters on Hardy Street in Lihu‘e.
The free program runs from Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the specified beach sites.
Attendance at one of these sites is mandatory in order for junior lifeguards to participate in the Kaua‘i championships July 31 at Hanalei Bay.
One of the KFD Ocean Safety Bureau instructors said judges at the island championship are looking for the best of the best.
The Kaua‘i program is currently the six-time defending state champion, and this year’s state championships are at Kalapaki Beach on Aug. 14.
“Kaua‘i is hosting the 2010 Junior Lifeguard State Championships and we want the junior lifeguards to represent our island as best they can,” said Kalani Vierra, the Ocean Safety Bureau island supervisor. “Hopefully, we can win the championship for the seventh consecutive year.”
Participants in the state championship start with the site sessions where young people between the ages of 13 and 17 learn about ocean safety and lifesaving skills from county Ocean Safety Bureau instructors.
“We encourage our youth to participate in this free program,” said Vierra. “They will learn skills from our top instructors that might save their own life, or even save another person.”
Vierra said in addition to learning about the ocean that surrounds them, young people also learn how to live a healthy lifestyle and become assets in assisting in making Kaua‘i a safer place for visitors and residents.
During the week-long session, young people get hands-on learning in drug awareness, rescue skills, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid, teamwork, problem-solving, ocean awareness and beach hazards.
The program is made possible through the collaborative efforts of the County of Kaua‘i, Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association, Hawai‘i Lifeguard Association and numerous business and other sponsors who care about Kaua‘i’s youth and ocean safety.
For more information, call the Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau at 241-4984 or 241-4980.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
