Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto has announced that the town is now hiring pool and beach lifeguards for the 2003 summer season. The town needs individuals to work the entire summer which extends from Memorial Day 2003, through Labor Day. Town lifeguards earn between $8.50 and $16 an hour.

"To be hired as a lifeguard, an individual must pass a 36-hour American Red Cross Lifeguard training course, which certifies an individual in CPR and first aid for the professional rescuer, lifeguarding techniques and automated external defibrillation," Venditto stated.

"The town is launching an ambitious recruitment drive for lifeguards," Venditto noted. "As part of the recruitment drive, the town will be offering two separate 36-hour American Red Cross Lifeguard courses. To enroll in the lifeguard training course, aspiring lifeguards must be 16 years of age on or before April 15, 2003."

Venditto noted that in order to be certified, the lifeguard candidate must successfully pass a pretest on the first day of the training course to continue through the rest of the course, which is followed by taking a Nassau County Lifeguard Exam. For the pretest, individuals must be able to:

1. Continuously swim 500 yards including: 200 yards crawl stroke, 200 yards breast stroke, and an additional 100 yards of either crawl stroke or breast stroke.

2. Swim 20 yards, submerge to a depth of 7 feet and retrieve 10-pound weight, return to the surface and swim back 20 yards with weight extended out of water with two hands.

3. Tread water for 2 minutes using legs only. Arms must be crossed across chest with hands placed under armpits.

"The fee for the course will be $278.90, of which $78.90 goes to the Red Cross to cover textbooks, a resuscitation mask for CPR and the American Red Cross processing fee," Venditto noted. "Any participant who passes all class requirements and remains employed with the Town of Oyster Bay as a lifeguard up to and including Labor Day 2003 will have $200 refunded to them."

The courses will take place at Bethpage High School Pool, 10 Cherry Avenue, Bethpage and the dates are as follows:

Accelerated Course - Monday, February 24 through Sunday, March 2; Monday through Friday, 4 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Traditional Course - Mondays and Wednesdays, March 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, April 2, 7, and 9, 6 to 9 p.m.

"Students are encouraged to submit lifeguard applications to the town while positions are still available," Venditto said. "For more information on applying for positions, please call Bill Zang at 797-4179 or pick up an application at Town Hall South, 977 Hicksville Road, Massapequa."