WSI

WSI

I have been a swimmer all my life. It must have been my parents who taught me. We had an outdoor pool at our home and spent summers enjoying it. I remember my dad taking my brother and I to the Minneapolis Athletic Club on Saturday mornings to swim during the winter months.

While at the seminary I took a Senior Life Saving course that qualified me as a lifeguard. I spend my college summers as a counselor at a Boy Scout camp in northern Minnesota so that certification came in handy. Being a lifeguard even if it was in the boonies was a status symbol.

What I really wanted was to be a Water Safety Instructor (WSI). The qualifications were quite stringent. A course was offered at the college close to the seminary, so I signed up. Little did I know what I was getting into. Three afternoons a week I spent doing laps in the college pool. I was an above average swimmer, but this was demanding. I hung in there because I wanted the certification.

In addition to the laps, I had to be proficient in a variety of swimming strokes, take a CPR-First Aid course followed by a written exam, and perform a water rescue. Our instructor was a retired Navy Seal. For the water rescue, I had to retrieve him from the pool as he played the part of a drowning victim.

As I tread water in the deep end, the instructor jumped off the diving board almost landing on top of me. On the way down to the bottom of the pool, he grabbed me in a bear hug. I had to break free of his grip, maneuver him into a rescue hold and bring him safely to the shallow end of the pool.

Trying as hard as I could, I couldn’t break free and I was running out of oxygen and stamina. Looking at him, I knew he wasn’t going to let go. Faced with drowning, I instinctively kneed him in the groin. His face contorted, his grip released and we both rose to the surface. The only words he spoke were “You flunked.”

I didn’t get the WSI certification, but I didn’t drown!