Age was irrelevant at Browne’s Beach, St Michael, yesterday as Operation: Save Ourselves 2011 splashed off.
The programme, now in its third year, is open for Barbadians aged ten and up.
Head of the lifeguard training division, Dave Bascombe, said this was to ensure the most vulnerable swimmers – children old enough to go into the sea unsupervised as well as the mature swimmers – could learn essential life saving techniques should they get into difficulty.
“Even if one person drowns, that would be one too many,” he said.
Bascombe said all the instructors were taken from the Barbados Lifeguard Services’ training wing and included lifeguard supervisor Rawle Eversley, acting senior lifeguard Noel St Hill, certified swim and lifesaving instructor Tony Butts, competitive swim coach Adrian Bynoe, president of the Barbados Lifeguard Association, Ezra Clarke, and Chris Gajadhar.
Here, instructor Tony Butts coaches Gloria Gooding, 68, in laying afloat as other members of the mature group look on. (CA) (Picture by Nigel Browne.)
