The water is fun, the beach is great, but they are always potentially dangerous. This past week, lifeguard Captain Evan Soviero assisted a 9-year-old child out of the water at West Harbor Beach. Although the water was only two-feet deep, the child had become disoriented and was unable to stand up and had begun to panic. The alert lifeguard ran to the water and assisted the young boy out.

At Sound Side Beach a father in a kayak, with his son in a separate kayak, had flooded his boat. He was attempting to pull both his flooded boat and his son out of the water. Lifeguard supervisor Eric Karahalis swam out past the beach lines and helped the father bring in both his son and the flooded kayak.

Certainly these were not the typical lifeguard saves that are envisioned, especially if you've watched Baywatch, yet these were assists that certainly prevented a possible tragedy. These alert young men and all the town and village lifeguards are important safeguards when you go swimming at the beach. It is important that swimmers swim only in areas that are watched by these highly trained men and women.