(NewsNation) — Amid a nationwide lifeguard shortage, one Ohio grandmother has stepped up to make sure her community pool remains open.
Gail Rodgers, of Sycamore Township, became a lifeguard to keep the private pool open at the Montogmery Towne Condominiums community, where she lives, according to Good Morning America.
Rodgers retired in 2014 and had no plans of returning to the workforce. However, she became certified after learning that the pool would have to close on specific days due to a lack of staff. Neither she nor the residents wanted to see the pool close, so she came out of retirement.
This is the second time the 66-year-old has worked as a lifeguard in her lifetime, though it’s been 50 years so she needed to brush up on her skills.
“I thought, well, I should just get certified too, so I went through the certification, and lo and behold, I passed,” Rodgers said.
However, training was a lot different this time around. Rodgers told GMA that lifeguards weren’t equipped with props or flotation devices in the late ’60s, as, “The lifeguard back then would sit in the chair and might blow the whistle occasionally to tell you to stop running”
Rodgers officially began working as a part-time lifeguard on May 27, according to GMA.
As part of the physical exam, candidates are required to swim a 300-yeard length and then submerge themselves to grab a 10-pound brick off the pool’s floor. The task is timed and proved to be challenging for Rodgers.
“So the swimming and the treading that part was fairly easy for me because you can use any strokes. I do freestyle down breaststroke back and just kind of keep a slow and easy pace,” Rodgers explained. “But the brick thing, 10 pounds and you are timed with that, it’s a minute and a half. So that was always my concern going through the test, but I was able to pass it. I was happy about that.”
In her community at Montgomery Towne Condos, there are approximately 302 condos, where Rodgers has children and grandchildren who also reside there.
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