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BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. - Briarcliff Manor's Alan Neider is spending the summer not only teaching kids to swim but watching over them as well.
The 18-year-old is one of nearly 40 lifeguards at Briarcliff Manor's outdoor pool in Law Memorial Park across from the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. The pool opened for the weekends on May 27 and expanded to weekdays on Monday. Many of the lifeguards trained in Briarcliff Manor and several swam on the Briarcliff High School swim team.
Neider also spends a lot of his time as a camp lifeguard and considers himself lucky to be doing something he loves over the summer.
"I think it's great teaching the kids to swim and I really like connecting with them," Neider said. "It's really great to be able to do this."
Erica Iuliano, one of the pool's assistant directors, said the lifeguards have been busy since the pool opened for two free days over the Memorial Day weekend. With more than seven years of experience as a lifeguard, Iuliano said she's proud to work with her staff and the residents of Briarcliff Manor.
"We haven't had any major incidents so we've been fortunate," she said. "Our guards have done a great job when we've had minor incidents, using first aid. Usually parents know what their kids can do and they also do a pretty good job of watching them."
Several of the lifeguards working at the pool this year say they couldn't have found a better summer job.
"I love working here," said 17-year-old Greg Martin. "We've got a lot of great people to work with, too. The patrons are nice and friendly even when we have to tell them what to do."
Like Neider, 19-year-old Joanna Chalsen also works with Camp Guard.
"I like that a lot because you get to meet the kids and teach them how to swim and show them how to do it on their own," Chalsen said, adding that she started on a swim team at 5-years-old. "Everyone here is really nice and really great."
Briarcliff High School student Grace Orr, 15, joined the team this year as a junior lifeguard.
"I needed a summer job and this is the perfect place right in my backyard," Orr said.
Resident Karen Mauro, who took her children, 6-year-old Jillian and 9-year-old Jackson, to the pool Monday, said the pool offers something rare in Westchester.
"We love it because we didn't have a town pool to go to and most places don't offer outdoor pools," Karen Mauro said. "The people that work here are really nice, too, so it's a great place to come for us."
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