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Meet the Buoys:
21.07.09
Local lifeguards keep
Shroove swimmers safe
by Linda McGrory
THEY might have to suffer the odd 'Baywatch' jibe
but Evan Vekins and Andrew Connell just laugh it off
as the lifeguard's lot.
The two Greencastle lads are patrolling Shroove's
Blue Flag beach for the summer and despite a busy
season with bathers so far, they are happy to report
no major incidents.
"There's been nothing too major so far this season,"
explained Evan. "We've had a few jelly fish stings
and things like that, but nothing too serious.
"There have been quite a few people out bathing this
year. Many of them are wearing wet suits but some
are going into the water without wet suits too." |
Like their colleagues
on Inishowen's other two Blue Flag beaches - Culdaff
and Lisfannon - Evan, 20, and Andrew, 21, took up
their seasonal posts on June 26. The distinctive
red-and-yellow lifeguard huts are manned seven days
a week from 12 noon until 6.30pm for the duration of
the bathing season until the end of August. The
lifeguards each work six days with one day off each
week.
Evan from Greencastle Lower and Andrew from
Greencastle Upper have been friends for years |
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and have been
lifeguards for three and five years respectively. As
local boys they know all the moods and tides of
Shroove strand as well as its rocks, crags and rock
pools.
They are both college students. Evan studies
electronic engineering at LYIT and Andrew is doing
biomedical engineering at the University of Ulster
at Jordanstown, Belfast. Both have the required
years of life-saving training, including their Beach
Lifeguard certificates and basic First Aid and CPR
skills from Irish Water Safety.
Their hut high up on Shroove's sand dunes is
equipped with their wet suits, flotation buoys and
surf skis (a type of open canoe) - vital equipment
if they have to dash into the water to undertake a
rescue. And even though many people might think it
an old wive's tale, their First Aid kit also
features a vat of vinegar in the event of swimmers
getting stings.
"We use vinegar to kill the sting and then we put on
calamine lotion which cools it down and soothes it,"
added Evan. |
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