AKLAVIK - Trudy Dick surveys Aklavik's empty indoor swimming pool as dark clouds crowd the sky and rain drizzles down outside.

Trudy Dick and Janelle Pascal, both 17, were summer students and assistant lifeguards at Aklavik's swimming pool this summer. - photo courtesy of Trudy Dick

"On rainy days or muddy days, we barely get any kids here," the 17-year-old said.

For that reason, the high school graduate's last day as an assistant lifeguard summer student was a calm one.

As she and fellow summer student Janelle Pascal wrapped up their summer jobs Aug. 25 before heading off to new schooling adventures in Edmonton and Inuvik, respectively, Dick reflected back on her three summers of experience working at the community pool.

She first splashed on to the lifeguard scene to fill in at the last minute for a previous assistant near the end of the summer three years ago.

"I needed to save money in order to pay for my stuff for school – I'm leaving soon – so I applied for a job to pay for school," she said.

And she's returned to the pool every summer since then, still working her way up toward full lifeguard certification. At the beginning of this summer, Dick felt prepared for anything. She's trained in first aid and knows how to properly remove an unconscious swimmer from the pool – though she's never had an occasion to embark on a rescue mission.

The pool's deep end goes down five feet, but on hot, sunny days, swimming is most popular with Aklavik's 12 and under crowd, who mostly stick to the shallow end.

"In the pool we've got to make sure that nobody tries to dive in or anything," Dick said, explaining the poolside work environment is generally relaxed and full of laughs.

"When you're watching the pool – since it's a small pool and kids are trying to find something fun to do, they try to push the workers in the pool and it's just fun."

On a good day, about 20 to 30 kids are in the water – the pool is conveniently located next door to the community's youth drop-in centre.

"I like the whole job altogether," Dick said, but she added her favourite aspect of the work is "just watching the kids have fun in the pool," explaining that she likes to keep busy.

"When it gets quiet, that's the part I really don't like because there's really nothing to do," she said. "If there's only a couple of kids we usually try to bake with them (in the centre's nearby kitchen), and usually they like baking."

Over the summer her days at the pool have flown by, but as fall nears Dick said she finds her workdays dragging on while she looks forward to starting her studies at Grant McEwan College in September. She doesn't plan to pursue lifeguarding down south, though she said it's been a fun hobby.

"It's a fun job; I just like working around kids," Dick said.

The girls' last day as summer students, Dick said, was bittersweet.

"I feel kind of like I just want to keep working, but I have to leave for school, so I'm kind of happy it's going to be done," she laughed. "I've been hoping for a while to move away, but I know I'm going to miss home."

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