Backyard Lifeguards & BYLG Sport

Thank you, Sally.

'We'll leave the light on for you': America's last lighthouse keeper is leaving her post — USA TODAY Boston Light, the last manned light house in the United States, is losing its keeper on New Year's Eve. Here's her story.

How many lifeguards out there want this T-shirt?

What do lifeguards do all winter? Other water stuff! Here's Anna, diving coach at Lafayette High School (Wildwood, Missouri) and Theresa, swim coach at Wentzville School District's Timberland High School. We love these small mighty summertime BYLGs!

Two words: LIFEGUARD RATIOS
You can have all the fancy stuff to respond, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't have enough lifeguards to recognize.

St. Louis County Council to consider making summer camp safety improvements permanent The St. Louis County Council will consider making summer camp safety improvements permanent following the drowning of six-year-old TJ Mister at a county-run camp last year.

It's never too late to learn!

Jennifer Hudson Shares Moment She's Taught to Swim by Ryan Lochte: 'Going to the Olympics!' Jennifer Hudson received an expert swimming lesson from 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte on 'The Jennifer Hudson Show' Tuesday

"We need protection in open water swimming. We have no protection and the athletes have no voice.” - Fran Crippen in 2010, two months before he died.

Never Forgotten: 12 Years After His Death, Fran Crippen Remembered Fondly By Coach Dick Shoulberg October 23, 2010 changed Dick Shoulberg's life forever. It was on that day that Fran Crippen tragically lost his life at age 26.

Look at what's happening in California. And in Chicago. And in St. Louis! EARLY TRYOUTS! Watch here for more information on being a BYLG Team Member in 2024!

Lifeguard agencies shift to early tryouts for next summer’s seasonal guards Lifeguard testing for next summer is already underway at local beaches, a shift to an earlier recruitment method to net more applicants.

These cuties are sporting the vintage 2010 "LOVE" T-shirt, BYLG's first team member swag design. Many future generation rescuers have worn these, passed down from lifeguard to lifeguard. (To their mom, thanks for the photos. Feel free to come out of retirement any time. Your paddleboard awaits . . .)

Yesterday we shared a story of a tragedy where people did nothing. Today a story of a tragedy avoided. This is what can happen when people DO SOMETHING without endangering themselves. By the way, they're 11 years old. Atta way, guys.

'Tragedy was averted': How Glen Ellyn students saved man from drowning Four close friends were hanging out around Lake Ellyn when they heard a man in the water yell for help. What happened next earned the elementary school students awards from Glen Ellyn police.

Seven people reported seeing something unsafe. After the tragedy occurred. Did any one of those seven--SEVEN!--think to intervene? To say something? To report something? To do something? Please don't be a bystander. Watch your child, not your phone. Remind and help other parents to do the same.

It's a worldwide community! We were thrilled to be so graciously welcomed by our fellow GUARDAVIDAS at Vidanta. Many hotels and resorts do not have lifeguards. But this crew is AMAZING, working three 8-hour shifts to cover beaches and pools from 7 AM to 11 PM. (A separate crew guards the waterpark.) Led by the professionalism of national guardsman, search & rescue paramedic, and triathlete Salomon Perez, their workouts--OOF! Thank you for having us!

The St. Louis community is one of only a few in the country with access to professional lifeguard services for open-water events. Thank you, MSE Racing, Big Shark Bicycle Company, and Swim Across America for entrusting your swims to us.

"seek out the most qualified triathlon lifeguards available, instead of recruiting any warm body at the last minute to meet the ratio requirements for sanctioning. With triathlon volunteer participation on the decline, it becomes even more important for races to budget for paying qualified lifeguards"

The Hardest Job in Multisport? Triathlon Lifeguard. Forget what you learned from "Baywatch" - lifeguarding, specifically lifeguarding a triathlon, involves a complex series of decisions to keep athletes safe in a crowded, chaotic open-water swim where lives are literally on the line.

Don't have a contest to hold your breath underwater. Winning can be deadly.

Florida Kid Uses CPR He Learned From 'Stranger Things' To Save Drowning Man From Pool A 12-year-old Florida boy is being hailed as a hero after he saved a man from drowning by using CPR that he learned from watching “Stranger Things.”

Short and sweet, this pretty much sums it up:

What you Need to Know to Become a Lifeguard Lifeguards - the men and women who ensure our safety at the beach and at the pool have always been a necessary staple when going swimming. We don’t think about

Critical Message to Parents From Lifeguards and Children - The SandPaper “Sir?” No response. Louder, “Sir?” Again, no response. Even louder, “Excuse me! Sir?!” Still nothing. “Sir, the lifeguard just went in to rescue your child!” The man never looked up from his phone. The man had been “watching” his two boys, dressed in matching rash guards. His bea...

Drowning prevention is not only the job of lifeguards. Our CEO Stephane Rebeck writes about water safety for the general public. Here's her latest piece, featured in The SandPaper.

Critical Message to Parents From Lifeguards and Children - The SandPaper “Sir?” No response. Louder, “Sir?” Again, no response. Even louder, “Excuse me! Sir?!” Still nothing. “Sir, the lifeguard just went in to rescue your child!” The man never looked up from his phone. The man had been “watching” his two boys, dressed in matching rash guards. His bea...

Seventeen years. This is why we do what we do. Every lifeguard interaction results in some person being a little more educated on how to prevent drowning, so that families go home whole.

Only survivor recounts 2006 St. Louis Dream Center drownings for the first time On July 9, 2006, five children, four of them siblings, perished in the Meramec River on a church outing.

For those of you that put lifeguarding on a shelf with all your high school and college yearbooks, come out of retirement! Really! You can do this as a side gig to a permanent to full-time career in something else. Lots of the men and women you see in gold (or aqua) are pros in other things--AND LIFEGUARDING!

Grandma steps up as lifeguard to keep community pool open A grandma in Cincinnati decided to become a lifeguard to help with a shortage and make sure everyone gets to enjoy the pool this summer.

WE KNOW HER! This Lifeguard EMT will come to your home, too! Here's one review: "Abby was just awesome!! Please share my sincere thanks for her professionalism and skill! So many parents commented on how wonderful she was and how much safer they felt with her there. I will definitely be happy to book again! Thanks so much!"

Mother looks to prevent drowning deaths after experiencing tragedy Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 through 4. One local mother is now an advocate for safety after experiencing a tragedy.

We just had to share this. Don't ever be daunted for being small. You can still be mighty. Congratulations, Eden Hansen, on making the Save of the Summer.

Eden: “I’m a senior at Point Boro High School. I’ve always wanted to be a lifeguard when I was little. This year I finally decided to go for it. But I am only 5 feet tall, and weigh only 100 pounds. There were people who told me they thought I couldn’t be a lifeguard because I was too small. But I didn’t care. I went for tryouts, and made it. Every day on the job we would train. We did first aid training, CPR training, water drills, everything we needed to go over to get ourselves prepared.

"My first save was my first week on the job. Both of my partners were on lunch break. We had breaks from 12 to 12:30, and 12:30 to 1:00. So when your stand partner is on break, you’re alone for 30 minutes each day. I had just gotten back from lunch and my partner then went on break, so I was alone. Soon I saw this 10 year old girl who was struggling in the water, and I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm alone right now. This is all on me.' It was a yellow flag day, and she was out pretty far. I was kind of nervous but I called it in to the rest of the beaches, then I went in. As soon as I hit the water I knew I had to swim as fast as I could. There was no other option. It was up to me to get to her. My mind kind of went blank and it was just all adrenaline. I was super focused on getting to her. It was such a surreal feeling.

"There was one point where a strong wave pushed me back, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ but l got past it, which was a confidence booster. I told myself, ‘I just have a little bit farther to go! I'm almost there!’

"When I reached her, she was super scared. She kept apologizing, ‘I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to go out that far.’ I kept telling her it was ok, that I was going to get her in safely. So I just told her to hold on to the torp, I got my arms around her, and I told her, ‘We're going to go in now. You can kick for me if you can.' At that point a partner from another beach came over to get her with me.

"When we got in, her mom was so grateful. The girl was so scared. I offered her some water, and then they left. The most special part of that save was at the end of the day, my captain told me that he found out she was autistic. I was so impressed with that girl’s courage.

"I ended up getting Save of the Summer award, which was super special to me because going into that summer, I had a goal for myself: I wanted to win Rookie of the Year because I wanted to prove that even though I'm super short, and some people thought I couldn't do it, I wanted to prove them wrong. And I did. We didn't end up having that award this year, but winning Save of Summer was super cool. This was the best summer of my life, and I cannot wait to go back next summer."

~ Karge Ave Beach, Bay Head, where she made her save.

Planning a back-to-school pool party? Find a reservation form on our brand new, under construction, coming soon WEB SITE!

We are getting a NEW WEBSITE! (Yes, we thought our busiest summer ever was a perfect time for this project!) You can still request lifeguard services though our site.