Being a lifeguard is to balance the very important job of protecting the lives of swimmers with the crushing monotony of sitting in the sun, twirling a whistle all day. 28-year-old lifeguard Erlen Rodriguez felt he could get stoned before heading to his job at the Wagner pool on E. 124th street, but was pulled over after running a red light and almost killing pedestrians in the street. According to the Post, inside Rodriguez's 1992 Honda was "a joint and a golfball-sized bag of marijuana," along with his 26-year-old girlfriend and their two children—ages 5 and 11—in the backseat. more ›

An 11-year-old boy was "completely blue and unresponsive" when a nurse saw him by a Staten Island YMCA pool, so she told lifeguards, "I am a nurse, I know CPR," and was able to help revive him after two minutes. Pamela Glennon told the Advance, "His color came back immediately." more ›

Remember last summer when lifeguards became the new target for water-logged watchdogs? Well, it's gettin' hot out there, and a reader sent in the following account after visiting Rockaway Beach this weekend—signaling another summer of lazy lifeguarding!:

I was at Rockaway Beach on Saturday, June 26th at the 125th Street entrance and there was a blond female lifeguard on duty. She brought the whole family along and sat in the lifeguard tower with her baby in her lap for a good 45 minutes. I hardly see how you can jump off the lifeguard tower and save a life with a baby in your damn lap. She was the only lifeguard up on the lifeguard tower at the time, and seemed to be the only lifeguard on duty for that area, as the other lifeguard was having a photoshoot with his girlfriend. Haven't there been a lot of drownings lately? Shouldn't our lifeguards be paying attention to the ocean?

The tragic death of 12-year-old Nicole Suriel, who drowned during a class trip to Long Beach, is putting the practices that Columbia Secondary School and the Department of Education enforce during school trips under scrutiny. Suriel's parents say they did not sign a permission slip for the trip and Juan Suriel recounted hearing about his daughter's death: "The principal called, 'We have to go to the beach. I think Nicole is dead.' I said, 'You're joking. Only two or three hours ago I spoke to her.' It just doesn't make sense." more ›

After recent deaths off the Rockaways and Coney Island, the NY Times look at attacks against the lifeguard union head. One chief lifeguard at Rockaway Beach, Janet Fash, said "water safety decisions" are "made in union offices by Peter Stein and the people he makes supervisors through patronage.” Fash, who claims the city doesn't meet national standards of lifeguarding, has enlisted the support of city officials, including City Councilman Oliver Koppell who said "Stein is running a program that is corrupt in choosing candidates for becoming lifeguards," but the Parks Dept. denies her charges and Stein said, “She’s entitled to her views, but I just wish she had some evidence." more ›