Welcome back to today’s blog featuring all about my Bronze Star lifeguarding journey. In January 2026, my parents enrolled me in a lifeguard training course. My coach was really nice, but unfortunately I did not pass, which meant that I failed. Even though I failed, that did not stop me from achieving the Bronze Star Lifeguard course, so in February my parents re-enrolled me in the course for most of the March Break days.
On the first day, it was mostly a refresher, but I still learned some new lifeguarding techniques like lifesaving kicks, which they did not teach in my first Bronze Star course. I felt like the easiest part of this whole journey was the first aid because I had most of the info already in my knowledge from my first Bronze Star course.
On the second day, we focused on CPR for a baby, kid, and an adult. We also focused on rescuing people by doing head-up freestyle or head-up breaststroke to get to them, then sculling the buoy to them (sculling is used so that the victim does not push us down if they are a weak or non-swimmer), and then towing them back to the other side by doing a lifesaving kick. A lifesaving kick is used to keep our head above the water and make sure we can keep an eye on the victim. These can include eggbeater, scissors kick, and whip kick.
The third day was our last day to practice before the final assessment. For first aid, we focused on where to put the AED on a baby, kid, and an adult. An AED has 2 pads that go on the right shoulder and the left bottom side of the person. The AED is used to help restart the heart so that it can keep beating. We also practiced what to say to our bystander. You could say something like, “Call 911, we have a 15-year-old female that just came out of the water. She has no cuts. Can you get the AED?”
In the water, we practiced how to swim with clothes on and how to make your clothes into a life buoy. We had to bring a long-sleeve top. After that, we practiced tossing the buoy to a victim who is close by. Lastly, on the third day, we did the obstacle swim, which was my favourite because it was also a relay!
The fourth and final day was assessment day, which can always be nerve-wracking. We first started with first aid, where we had to do the full run of Primary 1. It was really intense, but of course super fun. After that, we did our rescue drills, lifesaving kicks, a 200m swim, sculling, entries (like shallow dive, stride jump, compact jump, and slip-in), and lastly we did a review.
Now it was time to see who passed or who failed. While we were waiting, we did the water rock climbing wall, which was super fun to jump off and climb back on top. Once my coach called my name, she talked about what I did well and what could have been better, but she said that the mistakes were super minor, so I passed! I was super happy to hear that I was now able to go on to Bronze Medallion!
I hope this blog inspired you to try the Bronze Star lifeguarding course, and I hope that you make it if you try it. Now that’s a wrap from today’s blog. Hope you guys enjoyed it, see you guys in the next one!
