Bob Pratt
A firefighter who advocates for Great Lakes swim safety has been named 2011 Lifesaver of the Year by the National Drowning Prevention Alliance and USA Swimming Foundation.
Bob Pratt, a Michigan resident, will fly to San Diego for an all-expense paid trip to be honored at the 11th Annual National Drowning Prevention Alliance Symposium March 7-10.
Pratt, 53, is chief executive officer of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, an organization that teaches classes about Great Lake rip currents, signs of drowning and surfboard rescue techniques in five cities in Michigan and Indiana.
The group began tracking the number of Great Lake drownings two years ago. It recorded 74 in 2010 and 87 in 2011.
“You know I’m a little embarrassed to be perfectly honest,” Pratt said. “It’s just really hard to think that any one person is more deserving than another. It doesn’t fit.”
Friends say the award is well-deserved.
“I think the award goes to exactly the right person,” said Jennifer Parks, who met Pratt in the 80’s when she was a swim coach and he was a student at Michigan State University. “He just volunteers all the time to keep people safe and has been adamant about teaching people how to be safer in the water. Nobody’s done as much as he has to try and keep people safe.”
It was at the university where Pratt taught himself to swim as a freshmen. He then worked his way through school as a lifeguard.
He retired in January as a fire marshal in East Lansing, Mich., after working 25 years also as a firefighter and paramedic. He says he’ll now focus more time on the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. The group wants to bring classes to 14 cities in the Great Lakes region this year.
Water safety expert Bob Pratt discusses surfing safety and Great Lakes rip currents on WZZM:
Classes are for people of all ages hoping to better understand water safety. When people get into trouble in the water, it’s not like you see portrayed on television, Pratt said.
“Drowning doesn’t look like you expect it to look like,” he said. “If you think about Hollywood, they depict drowning as lots of yelling and waving when in fact drowning is very fast. It’s silent and takes around 15 to 45 seconds.”
Pratt is unsure of the number of people he’s saved over the years, but stays in shape in hopes of saving lives again as a lifeguard.
“I still harbor this dream of lifeguarding- working on stand and making rescues,” said Pratt. “There’s nothing like the hands-on of pulling someone out of the water or a fire. It just gets in your psyche and you can’t get it out of there.”
Pratt had already planned to attend the symposium to collaborate with other beach and water safety advocates from around the country. Now that his expenses are paid, he’ll use the money he had saved for the trip toward the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.
People interested in having the group teach in their city can contact it on Facebook.