Ten (10) reasons for hiring qualified aquatic professionals: aqualified aquatic professional will provide a wealth of knowledge from training, education, and operations to the average aquatic facility.

Ten (10) reasons for hiring qualified aquatic professionals: aqualified aquatic professional will provide a wealth of knowledge from training, education, and operations to the average aquatic facility. In many cases, this combination of experience and training makes the aquatic professional a well-rounded employee with the abilities to be a pro-active manager. This initiative will keep the facilities safe and well maintained with a heavy emphasis on staff training and re-training.. (Aquatics)(Cover Story)

At a minimum, the qualified aquatic professional should have an education at the Bachelors Degree level. A degree at this level in almost any discipline will provide the candidate with much needed life experience. The NIRSA Aquatic Directors Handbook (2001) recommends the following experience and certifications for Aquatic Director / Manager / Supervisor:

* Master's degree in recreation, sport management or related field,

* Preferred Lifeguarding experience of at least 1 year,

* Lifeguard leadership experience of at least 1 year and preferably 3 years,

* Pool operator certification such as CPO, AFO or P.O.O.L.

* One year experience with pool operations dealing with sanitation and filtration systems.

* Current lifeguard training certifications including CPR and First Aid.

An experienced qualified aquatic professional will also hold Current Lifeguard Instructor certifications to include instructor level certifications in CPR, First Aid, Automated External Defibrillation, and Water Safety Instructor (WSI), with three or more years of documented teaching records as an instructor. The experienced instructor will have taught approximately 10 courses in the previous two years. The 10 reasons to hire a qualified aquatic professional fall into broad areas of focus listed here:

1. RISK MANAGEMENT

The aquatic professional recognizes that patron and staff safety must be the priority in aquatic operations. This will help protect the organization to an extent when dealing with liability issues.

2. WATER QUALITY

Treatment and Sanitation procedures for pool water are similar nation wide. The aquatic professional will be able to quickly transfer knowledge and experience from one system to the next; this is true for filtration and pump equipment as well.

3. STAFF TRAINING

The aquatic professional is only as good as the training he/she is able to offer to other staff. Look for aquatic professionals with multiple certifications and instructor qualifications. IT's or Instructor Trainers, are desirable, but very often this level of certification does not readily transfer from one area to another.

4. PROGRAMMING

The aquatic professional will have a record of excellent organizational and long range planning skills. This will be needed to provide a diverse range of courses available at the facility without conflicts.

5. ENERGY CONSERVATION

The aquatic professional will typically save the organization resources on heating by implementing procedures for the use of pool covers and keeping the temperature at the recognized point for its use. A recycling program can protect the environment, and may supplement maintenance costs.

6. FINANCIAL MONITORING

The aquatic professional recognizes the need to do more programming that is self-sufficient. Cost recovery programs can be inexpensive to the customer, and profitable to the facility, if the administration recognizes the need for well trained qualified staff beyond the Aquatic Director/Manager/Supervisor. One leader can train others to take leadership roles, but that leader cannot do all the classes and manage the facility/staff all the time. There must be responsible support staff in the department or collateral to the department for excellent administration.

7. CUSTOMER SERVICES

The aquatic professional empowers staff to respond to patrons' needs while making sure that patron safety is never compromised. Customer satisfaction and customer safety can create difficult decisions. The aquatic professional will outline policies and procedures for the facility from common sense standards set forth by the aquatic industry, as well as common risk management techniques specific to aquatics.

8. FACILITY MANAGEMENT

Aquatic professionals draw on a group of training agencies, other facilities, and commonly used regulations and procedures to maintain a safe, clean facility that will operate in that condition for many years. Simple inspections and routine maintenance help extend longevity while minimizing risks to patrons and staff.

9. EDUCATIONAL

The aquatic professional is always in a state of learning. Professional development, curriculum changes by training agencies, and industry news keep the aquatic professional eager to become the best in the discipline. This desire spreads to subordinate staff and should be nurtured. This gift of learning is passed on to others in the facility, and often keeps good staff longer.

10. LONG RANGE GROWTH

The aquatic professional will often have goals and objectives five, 10, and even 15 years into the future for the organization. This vision should be kept alive by meetings with senior administrators that share the desire for a better department. Capital expenditures can be slated for planned repair or replacement years ahead of time so there are no big surprises and the patrons gain trust in the administration's competency in growth and financially sound judgment.

To help support the 10 listed reasons for hiring a qualified aquatic professional, a brief summary is provided from a recent Aquatic Management study. The Study was conducted at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. The 1998 study was aimed at Senior Colleges and Universities listed in the 1997 National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Recreational Sports Directory that have aquatic facilities listed. The study had a response rate of 32.7%, or 146 surveys were returned. In the survey evaluation, Professional Aquatic Managers were considered to hold the following certifications recognized by the Professional Aquatic Management text: CPO or AFO, CPR, First Aid, and Lifeguard training (Clayton and Thomas, 1989).

A major finding of this survey was that less than 20% of the aquatic managers hold the certifications listed above. 4.1% reported holding other certifications. 28.8% of the respondents reported no prior aquatic experience before working in aquatic management. Only 10.6% of these managers have the certifications listed above. Almost 11% of these managers reported no certifications at all.

When questioned about facility deaths in the past 18 months, in all facilities reporting deaths, the managers failed to hold the certifications for professional aquatic managers. More than 23% of managers without prior aquatic experience had reported providing no in-service training for their staff.

Conclusions

While the survey or this article cannot attribute cause and effect for accidents, injuries or deaths, from the results, common sense leads us to suggest that the level of education, specialty training, and working experience in the field do have an effect on the operations of aquatic facilities. Therefore aquatic managers should seek out formal education, specialized training and be required to hold subordinate positions in aquatics such as lifeguard prior to becoming managers. Just as Marines gain knowledge and discipline in boot camp and grunt work in the field prior to becoming leaders, Aquatic managers should have the practical experience of guarding, maintaining facilities through observation and cleaning, teaching classes, working with the public and monitoring water quality prior to managing such facilities.