Meet Lifeguard Carlee Carbone

Summit Family Aquatic Center lifeguard, Carlee Carbone, knows what it's like to perform under pressure. The 20-year-old recently helped save a young girl while on duty at a fifth grade pool party.

"My first save was actually this year," Carbone recounted. "I was at a fifth grade pool party, and a girl at the party panicked. We had to go in with a backboard to help her. It was scary but she was fine in the end."

Carbone, a Summit native and 2007 graduate of Summit High School, is a rising senior and journalism major at the University of Rhode Island. She hopes to relay the life skills she's developed as a lifeguard into future pursuits.

"After I graduate, I hope to write for a magazine," Carbone said. "I'm still undecided, though. I used to lean towards writing about fitness and wellness, but I would like to write novels as well. I spend a lot of time reading. (Authors) Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks are my favorites."

Having first received her lifeguard certification at The Connection in Summit, Carbone later renewed her certification at the Summit Family Aquatic Center with the Red Cross. Each summer, she returns home from college to lifeguard at the SFAC. This is her sixth year supervising the outdoor community pool.

"I enjoy lifeguarding (at SFAC) because it's fun and not too stressful," Carbone said. "I work with a lot of good people. My boss and managers are great, and the Summit residents who come to the pool are all very friendly. I originally became a lifeguard because I thought it'd be a great summer job. I used to work at a bakery, but when I got the opportunity to work at SFAC, I came to work here."

Carbone described a day in the life of an SFAC lifeguard, which involves supervising the facility's baby or "leisure" pool, as well as a 13-foot diving tank that is connected to the main pool.

"We watch the swim team and lap swimmers in the morning, and then the seniors during Aquasise class," Carbone said. "At 11 (a.m.), we put up all of the equipment–backboards, rescue tubes–then, depending on how many guards are there that day, we're on duty for half an hour and off for half an hour. Usually there's between 15 and 18 guards on duty every day."

"Lifeguarding comes with a lot of responsibility–making sure the facility is running smoothly and all of the swimmers are safe," Carbone added. "I think people respect and appreciate what we do."

This summer when she's not lifeguarding, eating at her favorite Summit restaurant, the Beacon Hill Tavern, or catching an episode of The Office or Arrested Development, you'll find Carbone spending time with her friends and planning her family's annual vacation to North Carolina.

"Every year my family and I go to the Outer Banks," Carbone said. "I love it there. This year's trip will be a lot of fun."

Stay tuned to Patch this summer for additional profiles of SFAC senior lifeguards, including Carlee Carbone's sister, Dana.