A far cry from Hollywood – it’s a matter of life or death

Lifestyle –  Judy Murphy meets up with some  of the lifeguards who help keep people safe on Galway’s beaches

The highly responsible job of serving as a lifeguard got the Hollywood treatment in the 1980s American TV series Baywatch where a cast of impossibly beautiful, glamorous, sun-kissed people in skimpy bathing costumes glided around the beaches of California in eternal sunshine, with not a cloud in the sky.

Lifeguards in Galway, however, need to be made of sterner stuff. On a Friday morning in Silverstrand, Barna, Gerard Lally and Fiona Quirke are on duty.

Both are as fit and as athletic as their fictional Californian counterparts, but there the comparison ends. It’s bucketing rain outside their brightly coloured galvanised hut and a thunderstorm threatens.

On top of that, a farmer in a nearby field is spreading slurry. The smell, to put it mildly, is pungent.

Not that Gerard or Fiona take any notice as they set up for the day.

There’s a surf ski (which resembles a kayak, except a person sits on top of it) to be put outside and other tasks to be completed as they prepare for their eight-hour shift. The tide is in and despite the rain there are swimmers in the water.

Throughout this interview, the two keep their eyes firmly fixed on the sea and on those swimmers.

The pair are part of a highly trained, highly fit group of 30 fulltime and eight part-time beach guards who patrol beaches throughout Galway City and County on a daily basis during July and August. During June, lifeguards are on duty at weekends.

They work in pairs and different lifeguards are rostered to different beaches every day, from the lake beaches of Portumna and Loughrea in the east of the county, to Inis Mór and Inis Oírr to the west, Traught in Kinvara to the south and Dogs Bay in Roundstone to the north.

“It’s the fairest way, to move people around. That way nobody is getting the good beaches all the time,” says Gerard of the rostering system.

We are on a ‘good beach’ in Barna.

“Silverstrand is one of the nicer ones,” Gerard says, and Fiona nods in agreement. “It has a nice big beach with lots of sand, fewer rocks and it’s open.

“None of the beaches in Galway are particularly dangerous, but when you are near water, there are always dangers,” Gerard adds. However, there are no big waves to contend with because Galway Bay offers shelter.

One of the most challenging locations for a lifeguard is Blackrock, they say, because it is so busy all the time.

“There is almost never a moment in the eight-hour shift when nobody is swimming,” explains Gerard.

Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge for lifeguards, whatever beach they are on, is to be constantly vigilant. Even when it’s quiet, you have to be watchful.

Good eyesight is important, and their kit includes binoculars. On a beach such as the City’s Grattan Road, these are crucial, because the area is vast when the tide is out, they say.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.