Some lifeguards from the University are more than campus pool workers and swim lesson instructors – they are competitors. This month three teams of University lifeguards, along with students from across the United States, will travel to Lexington, Ky. to compete in various events which display their skills.

“It gives students from other schools a chance to interact,” said Steve Jukes, the assistant director of aquatics. “And our students get to see another facility.”

On Saturday, University lifeguards will compete against other schools at the University of Kentucky in a series of lifeguarding challenges. The University has won the competition for the past two years.

Jukes said the competition is set up as a team event and the University will bring three teams of five people each, plus substitutes.

“There are five or six different stations,” said Yvonne Kaszuba, junior in AHS. “(They include) deep water, submerged victim … deep water spinal, shallow water spinal, active and passive on top of the water, CPR and there’s a written test.”

Kaszuba competed last year and this year she helped to organize the event and create the teams.

“I’m going as an LGI,” Kaszuba said. “There’s a team of four people and then there’s an LGI, which is basically a judge.”

“Each team brings down a judge so they’re divided up amongst the competition,” Jukes said. “Different teams judge each other.”

Justin Jenkins, junior in AHS, will be participating in the event for the second time. He also competed in 2005 as a freshman, when the University took first place.

“There are some events, like CPR, where each individual does it and the total scores of all (team members) are added up,” Jenkins said.

“(Judging is based on) efficiency and speed of rescue and accuracy of how well the rescue skill was actually done,” Jukes said. Jenkins said the competition begins around noon and lasts approximately three to four hours. The winning team receives a trophy at the awards ceremony after the competition.

Jukes said that lifeguards can participate because “Campus Rec is sponsoring it so it’s part of our student development.”

Although Jukes said that the University of Kentucky sends out invitations to around 400 schools, last year only seven teams participated.

Kentucky has hosted the event for four years, but they hope to eventually rotate the location of the event.

“We would like to eventually host the competition once IMPE gets reopened,” Jenkins said.