Galveston lifeguard training tough as military boot camp

Hannah Hall, a new lifeguard with the Galveston Beach Patrol, approaches her post at the 10th Street lifeguard tower in Galveston. Lifeguards with the patrol work eight-hour days, five days a week during the summer. Hannah Hall, a new lifeguard with the Galveston Beach Patrol, approaches her post at the 10th Street lifeguard tower in Galveston. Lifeguards with the patrol work eight-hour days, five days a week during the summer. less Hannah Hall, a new lifeguard with the Galveston Beach Patrol, approaches her post at the 10th Street lifeguard tower in Galveston. Lifeguards with the patrol work eight-hour days, five days a week during the ... more Photo: Alysha Beck, Freelance Photo: Alysha Beck, Freelance Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Galveston lifeguard training tough as military boot camp 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Hannah Hall was exhausted as she struggled through 4-foot swells on her first swim for the Galveston Beach Patrol training academy. She didn't think she was going to make it.

The 18-year-old pre-med student at Trinity University in San Antonio had wanted to join the Beach Patrol since working on the Galveston beach two years ago selling snow cones.

"As I looked into it, saving people's lives, I knew I wanted to be a part of that," said Hall of Galveston.

She was one of 32 applicants for the May session of the Beach Patrol training academy.

"It's a lot like boot camp," said Peter Davis, Beach Patrol chief. "It's even worse."

Before they are allowed to sit in one of the wooden lifeguard towers overlooking Galveston beaches, they must complete 100 hours of grueling training, both physical and academic. That compares with the 40 hours of training the Red Cross requires for a pool lifeguard, said Davis, a Trinity University alumnus himself.

"Once they have completed the course they realize that their physical limits are greater than they think," Davis said. "They may have to swim a mile just to get to somebody and may have to swim through currents and waves."

Hall was confident when she applied. She had friends who had joined the beach patrol, she had been a swim-team member during high school and she had trained in a pool for five months. She spent two hours filling out paperwork and then interviewed with Davis for about 10 minutes. Then came the run-swim-run, more than 40 minutes of running through sand between lifeguard towers on Stewart Beach, then plunging into the Gulf and swimming to a buoy and back. The weather was bad and 3- to 4-foot swells promised to make the swimming difficult.

She was struggling about halfway through the course, her energy and willpower fading, as she passed near one of the lifeguards stationed along the route for safety.

"I reached out for one of the lifeguards and I said, 'I don't think I can do this.' "

The lifeguard replied, "Yes you can."

That word of encouragement sustained her and changed her mental approach to the rigorous training.

"I knew that whatever I had to face I would overcome it," Hall said. "It was grueling, but somehow I was able to exceed my expectations."

She learned to swim in surf and make rescues in rip currents and how to deal with tourists. She also learned about marine life in the Gulf and the Beach Patrol system and rules.

About 75 percent of applicants drop out along the way, Davis said. Some fail the drug test, some fail the first qualifying swim, some are dropped for failing to show up on time and others for an inability to cooperate. Of those who make it into the academy, about 10 percent drop out, he said.

Trainees are scored 25 percent on a written exam, 50 percent for attitude and teamwork and 25 percent for physical performance, Davis said.

The two-weeks of training culminate in the punishing "nightswim," which is no longer done at night for safety reasons but remains the most challenging part of the course.

The "nightswim" combines running, paddling and swimming with an obstacle course, a rope-climb up the face of the seawall and a leap off of a jetty. Davis said the details of the course change each year, but it remains a test of endurance and willpower. Every Beach Patrol member, no matter their seniority, must complete the nightswim each year, including Davis.

"It was definitely the biggest challenge I've ever had to do," Hall said. "You just push through, you just trust everything they taught you."

Hall felt apprehensive as they rode in a van the 4 miles from Beach Patrol headquarters on Stewart Beach near the finish line to the start line at the 53rd Street jetty.

"I'm thinking, 'We have to run or swim or paddle this length all the way back to headquarters?' " she recalled.

Hall was toward the front of the pack of about 75 swimmers until they reached the 27th Street jetty, where they were expected to don swim fins and leap into the sea, then swim around the Pleasure Pier to the 23rd Street jetty. Both her swim fins were ripped and unusable, Without fins, the swim would be slower and more difficult.

"At that point I realized my goal was to finish and I realized that 10 days ago I could barely do the run-swim-run," she said.

She lost her leading position, but finished.

"It was a fantastic feeling," Hall said. Her brother, Chandler, 17, completed the course ahead of her and was waiting at the finish line with her sister, Emma, 15, and her parents, Heidi and Tyler Hall.

Now a Beach Patrol member, Hall sits in the lifeguard tower during her shift and constantly scans the beach.

"When you're in your tower, you are playing scenarios in your head all day long," Hall said. "You can see the potential for things to go wrong."

So far, she hasn't had to rescue anyone. Hall spends most of her time steering people away from potentially hazardous situations.

"It's very rewarding, even if all you are doing is moving people away from the 'no swimming' zone," she said."I'm definitely proud of everything I've accomplished with this lifeguard academy."