The Edina Aquatic Center, a popular summer attraction for Edina residents of all ages, recently received the prestigious Gold International Aquatic Safety Award for exceeding safety standards in the aquatic industry. This award is given to pools with the highest degree of swimmer protection, and pools that go above and beyond to meet safety standards.

While the Edina Aquatic Center has received many awards for their safety standards in the past, this is the first time they have received the Gold level award. The receiving of this award reaffirms the pool’s commitment to ensuring safety for all.

A major factor in the Edina Aquatic Center receiving this award was the dedication of the lifeguards who worked all summer to make sure the Edina Aquatic Center was as safe as possible. Junior Kate Hellickson was one of the many lifeguards that spent their summer working at the Edina Aquatic Center. She also completed training outside of her job. “We had a week of training along with many swim tests and written tests to make sure we were prepared for any situation,” Hellickson said.

Not only were lifeguards required to complete rigorous training before the summer, but they were required to demonstrate safety standards throughout the summer. “Every other week, we had inservices which brushed us up and retested us on our training. Also each month, we were recorded and evaluated to make sure our standards were still high,” Hellickson said. Given that 106 rescues were made by the lifeguards this last summer, Edina Aquatic Center has lifeguards that are prepared for any situation, which was likely a great factor contributing to the receiving of this award.

In addition to the lifeguards working hard all summer to make sure the pool was safe, the communication among the staff members and the positive environment both contributed to the safety of the pool. Junior Avery Greene worked at the Edina Aquatic Center over the summer in the guest services department.

“I think the pool is safe because whenever we had an issue we would take every measure to prevent it from happening again. There was also a lot of communication between the staff themselves, as well as the community, which helped in terms of safety. All of the staff were responsible and fun,” Greene said.  

In the future, both say the Edina Aquatic Center hopes to continue excelling in safety standards.