AFTER nearly two years of classroom and pool learning, four remarkable ten-year-olds from North and East Cornwall successfully completed their Swimming Teachers Association Junior Lifeguard Academy President’s Seal award, the highest junior lifeguard award.

The three girls, Jessica Turner from Stoke Climsland, Chennai Burns from Launceston and and Isabella Goodman from South Petherwin plus Launceston’s Kayden Lancaster, have spent an hour a week, nearly every week for two years, attending the Phoenix Leisure Centre in Launceston, where they learned a wide range of personal survival, lifesaving, health and wellbeing and first aid skills. The teacher for most of their learning was Richard Harrison, a valuable, former member of the Tempus Leisure swimming teacher’s team at Launceston.

These young people started on their journey knowing that the programme required them to learn and demonstrate hundreds of skills across a wide range of missions, achieving them at their own pace, but in a supportive, challenging and competitive environment.

One of the proud parents, John Turner, said: “I genuinely believe that teaching swimming and lifesaving provides such valuable life skills, and that my daughter Jessica and all the other youngsters on the training programme have grown through this learning experience. As parents, we recognise that the children now have some of the skills to help others needing basic first aid and also sufficient knowledge to keep themselves safe, whilst performing resuscitation, until trained medics arrive. But we also recognise that this achievement is just the first of many more steps before they become fully competent pool or surf lifeguards.”

Ryan Hall, duty manager at the Phoenix Leisure Centre, said: “The four of them have done exceptionally well to pass such a diverse and inclusive qualification. Hopefully this will be the start of many future successes here at the centre. I will be waiting in anticipation for their CVs arriving on my desk in the future!”

Mr Turner added: “Whilst I am a qualified ASA swimming teacher, and have been a Royal Life Saving Society NPLQ lifeguard and trainer assessor and also a SLSA GB surf lifesaving instructor, sometimes, I think it is better to let someone you trust, outside the family, teach your child! I think that Richard and Ryan at Phoenix Leisure have done a wonderful job. I know how much Jessica enjoyed her learning.”

Do you want to have a go at this amazing challenge? Could you swim 1,000 metres; demonstrate first aid, resuscitation and communication skills; be open water, pool, surf and sun safe; demonstrate how to help save a person in difficulty in water using a floating aid, pole or branch, rope or Rescue Tube; could you dive to the bottom of a pool and pull a drowning person to the surface, then tow them to safety? Would you like to know how? You can, if you contact your nearest Tempus Leisure Centre or any other swimming pool and ask for advice on courses available to you.