It’s late June about 85 degrees, all cloudy and a little breezy. So really only a few people are at Coral Cove. It is far too cold to get out of the water and walk to the dive well, so my zone is empty. I sit on my stand just staring at the water daydreaming about the pizza I have sitting in the break room fridge. It is the end of the second shift so I’ve been here for about 9 hours, my boredom is unbearable. I have not had my first real save yet this summer so I was itching for some action. I am a little shocked at finding myself staring into the 12 feet of empty water wishing a kid would come to my zone and forget how to swim just so I could have something to do.

I am distracted from my thoughts when a group of three girls walk over to the dive well. They could not have been older than 12. The leader of the group, a bony, pale girl, was wearing a one piece with shorts attached, covered in teal sparkles. I remember thinking to myself “what a stupid swimsuit”. I watch as all 3 of them slowly climb to the top of the drop slide.

 This slide historically has the most saves, it’s about 15 feet high with a 4 foot drop that leads to 12 feet of water. The water rushing out of the slide is known for pushing people under. 

All 3 stand at the top and from what I can tell they are arguing about who is going down first. Stupid swimsuit is picked to go down. I watch as my coworker gives her the thumbs up, she hesitates and looks over the top. The fear she is presenting gives me hope for some action. I can only see her hands on the rail as she slowly sits down. Her friends are becoming impatient, I can hear encouraging words from my stand. Then, her hands disappear. She is down the slide. I hear the familiar “shoop-splash” as she makes contact with the water. I watch as she paddles her way to the surface, the paddling does not stop when her head is above water. It takes me a second to realize that she is not waving at her friends but she actually trying to stay above the surface. Her bobbing get more aggressive as she realizes the pool is too deep. Her head goes under once, like she was almost treading water but not enough to move. I feel my adrenaline rise as I watch her flail her arms in the water, not sure if she can get to the edge or not. I debate for what seems like forever. I look at my coworker who is at the top of drop slide and he shouts at me “jump! JUMP!” As she goes under a second time, I put my whistle in my mouth inhale deep and blow as loud as I can. The slightly deafening screech rings through the park. I stand up, bend my knees and launch from the 5 foot stand across the dive well. I hold my tube infront as brace for impact. It almost felt like I was moving in slow motion. I aggressively swim to the top of her head. I get within arms reach and yank on her tricep to pull her on to the tube. She has wide eyes and an open mouth. I imagine I look quite similar. 

At this point I see the break guards sprinting over, along with my round manager trotting along with her incident report clipboard. Stupid swimsuit and I are floating *aimlessly*; both holding on to my tube, both still in shock. I look up and see my coworker at the top of the slide clapping as I slowly swim to the edge of the pool. A middle aged lady along with her two young friends run to meet her at the edge of the pool. As soon as she is lifted to the edge of the deck she sprints to her mother. I climb out and the breeze catches on my wet uniform and I stand on deck feeling my heart pound, in a bit of a daze.

I am snapped back by the condescending tone of the break guard behind me “she could have at least said thank you”. I didn’t care, the save was fulfilling enough for me.