“Oh, God, bring him back.  I shall keep asking you.” John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany In my 30-year career, I have attended a number of conferences for aquatic professionals.  We often gather to share our expertise about operations, programs, training, budgets, and more.  We learn from each other, and pat ourselves on the backs for jobs well [...]

After delivering a presentation at the Missouri Parks & Recreation annual conference, I was thrilled to overhear my co-presenter, colleague, and friend Patrick Magee describe me as “the best in St. Louis at recruiting and retaining staff.”  And Pat knows, I hate coming up short. February is Recruiting Month at BYLG.  Our goal this year [...]

About five years ago, I sat with my mother on the roof of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York’s Battery Park.  As we gazed across the Hudson at the Statue of Liberty, my mother talked about her grandmother Rosalie, who came to America from Italy in 1893, with all of her belongings in a [...]

PART 2 When the St. Louis Praxair plant blew up in 2005, Puerto Ricans watched it on TV.  One on-air comment was that the explosive event had made “international” news.  But a few years later, the decision and commitment by Puerto Rico to undertake one of the most ambitious multi-faceted drowning prevention campaigns didn’t attract [...]

PART 1 As all lifeguards know, and many witnesses discover, most drowning people do not shout for help.  But in 2007, that’s exactly what happened when the tiny island territory of Puerto Rico called out to the United States Lifesaving Association, “Help us!  Our people are dying.” Puerto Rico, with few lifeguards to cover 130 [...]

While lifeguarding an open-water practice swim for about 200 people, I noticed two swimmers together, both women with their heads raised out of the water.  Since this is both a sign of and precursor to fatigue which can lead to swimming distress, I chose to warn them about crossing the upcoming canal, a 200-yard stretch [...]

My mother is amazing.  Among her many great qualities is a sense of adventure and a constant openness to learning new things.  She is afraid of nothing.  And even if she has some initial hesitation, she can usually be persuaded to try.  She’s always game. After some 20+ years of participating in water fitness for [...]

A few years ago, I earned a medal in the Chicago Marathon.  It wasn’t the regular finisher medal.  Mine is engraved with my name and the words “#1 Marathon Tracker”.  You see, I’m not a runner.  But I could go pro as a fan. In fact, if you’re planning to run a 10-minute pace in [...]