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Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald
Ottawa High School senior Zach Gaudet recently began his fourth summer lifeguarding at Forest Park Swimming Pool, 419 N. Locust St. Gaudet usually works at the pool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while also juggling a second job at Applebee’s.
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Teen shows the lighter side of saving lives
On guard at the pool
By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer
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To most, saving lives is a serious job. To lifeguard Zach Gaudet, it’s more than that — it’s a chance to have fun while protecting people.
During a break from working the lifeguard stands at Forest Park Swimming Pool, 419 N. Locust St., Gaudet jokes with his fellow workers. While they use a trash pick-up tool to gather the litter around the pool’s fence, he says he does “real manual labor” by picking it up with his hands.
He’s a jokester.
“He’s just fun to be around,” co-worker Brock Bulmer said of Gaudet. “He makes it easier on a lot of people.”
Gaudet, an Ottawa High School senior, recently began his fourth summer working at the pool. The constant sun and heat from sitting on the stand for hours might be too much for some people, but Gaudet said getting a tan is one of the perks of his job.
“It’s an easy job to go back to because it’s the same position every time, and every time the pay goes up,” he said.
He’s an observer.
Back on the stand, Gaudet, who lived in California until the third grade, scans the water. He said he’s never had to perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth, but he’s had his fair share of scares.
“Most of the time, it’s younger kids,” he said. “They go down the slide, and they can’t swim.”
Gaudet remembers a time when he saw someone struggling in the water across the pool and had to run to the area of the victim before jumping in for the save.
“It was in slow motion - my hair blowing in the wind and everything,” he joked. “It was like something on ‘Baywatch.’”
He’s a lifesaver.
When Gaudet gets off work, sometimes it’s difficult for him to forget the rules he enforces all day long.
“I’ll see some little kid running, and I’ll want to tell him to walk,” he said, laughing.
While his Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are spent working at the pool, Gaudet also works at Applebee’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some Saturdays. Since the pool is only open during the summer, working at Applebee’s allows him to keep a job during the school year.
He’s a hard worker.
“I used to be like most kids and party, but I’m trying to save up money,” he said. “I’m not as crazy as I used to be.”
Gaudet knows when he attends Wichita State University in the fall of 2009, he’ll need the extra cash he’s saved up from working.
“I’m scared of life afterwards, but I’m looking forward to college,” he said.
Majoring in aerospace engineering at Wichita, Gaudet plans to continue lifeguarding in Ottawa when he’s home for the summer.
He’s a dreamer.
“I’ve always loved building and architecture, and I’ve always had something for space,” he said. “I think it would be cool for my kid someday to watch a spaceship take off on TV and be like, ‘That’s my daddy’s rocket ship.’”
Sitting for hours at a time without much excitement doesn’t bother Gaudet. To him, the sun, pay and hours make lifeguarding the perfect summer job. After all, he can be himself.
He’s a lifeguard.
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