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This incredibly bored lifeguard is the best part of Olympic swimming

Probably the worst swimmer at the pool.

 

Josh Katzowitz

Internet Culture

Posted on Aug 8, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 7:32 am CDT

At first, the photo looks like it’s been manipulated for laughs. You know, because it’d be the height of hilarity to Photoshop in a bored lifeguard behind one of the world’s fastest swimmers on the pool deck at the Olympics in Rio.

But this photo is true to life; the lifeguard’s boredom and the swimmer dipping his legs in the water are as real as the patriotism displayed by Michael Phelps’s baby boy. And depending on who you follow on Twitter, the lifeguard watching over the swimming Olympians is either the height of hilarity or the pinnacle of protection.

https://twitter.com/EricLadin/status/762678016984047616

Understandably, the photo caused a Twitter reaction. First, from the “Boy, this is stupid” crowd:

And now the reaction by all those worrywarts out there who think this makes sense:

https://twitter.com/HillaryIsMyMom/status/762708963007852545

But here’s the reality: The lifeguards have to be on deck because, as the New York Times points out, a Rio de Janeiro law states that lifeguards must be present at pools that are larger than six meters by six meters (or about 20 feet by 20 feet). 

Thus, there are four lifeguards on duty at a time at the Olympics—two at the pool used for training and two at the competition pool—and they work shifts lasting between six and eight hours.

In all, the Times reported they’ll be paid about $340 for 20 days of work. But what’s worth more? A little bit of money, or the possibility of becoming a hero when you risk it all to save an Olympic swimmer cut down by a cramp?

“I’m dreaming of that possibility,” lifeguard Anderson Fertes told the Times. “I think about that.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, the lifeguards didn’t necessarily inspire the confidence of at least one of the world-class swimmers.

“It’s really one of the funniest things I’ve seen in the Olympic Games so far,” New Zealand swimmer Matthew Stanley said, via the Huffington Post.

“Have any of you guys been to Bali before?” he asked the reporters interviewing him after a recent training session. “You see the lifeguards and they sit up on the tower drinking Bintangs (beer) all day. That’s what it reminded me of. If anyone has a heart attack, you’re going down.”

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*First Published: Aug 8, 2016, 7:28 pm CDT