After three years of retirement, Charlie Knight said he started "getting in his wife's hair."
"She told me to look for something I can do," the 59-year-old chuckled. "I told her I wanted to be a lifeguard. She didn't think I could do it."
Young Volusia County lifeguards also wondered what a man of Knight's age was doing when he showed up for the drills on the beach a month ago. But after seeing him jump in the ocean every morning near the Volusia County Beach Patrol Administration Building at 515 S. Atlantic Ave. for the half-mile swimming drill and keep up with them, skepticism has changed to admiration.
"(At first) I was trying to figure out what he was doing here," said Lance Sparks, 21. "But he is doing great. The daily drills are pretty brutal but he has definitely impressed me with what he does."
And for Knight, there are some things he is discovering he has to get used to as a lifeguard these days. After all, things have changed since he first swam the drill as a lifeguard in 1969. He was 19.
Back then, the half-mile ocean swim, to be made in 10 minutes or less, was "a piece of cake." Forty years later, the Nashville, Tenn., native who turns 60 in September described the drill as "harder." Today, lifeguards make the swim every morning at 8:30 a.m., instead of weekly as it was done 40 years ago.
He joked that he swallows so much salt water he's left with no appetite.
"It's killing me but the cool thing is that everybody out there is supportive of me," Knight said. "I've been treated like a celebrity."
But Knight's training, which started in December, is toughening an already physically fit man for the "most demanding job in the county," said Joe Wooden, a retired Beach Patrol captain.
On Feb. 6, Knight was tested on the drill for his job and finished it in 9 minutes 27 seconds.
Knight is unique in that many former lifeguards dream of coming back to the beach but cannot meet the physical demands of the job, said Wooden, who was taken aback when Knight called him about the job.
On a recent morning, Knight jumped into the ocean with more than 30 other lifeguards, most in their 20s or early 30s.
"Just by looking at him you can tell he knows what he is doing," said Jesse Walliack, 20. "He can take care of himself."
Knight retired in 2005 from a career of building shopping malls in Georgia, 25 years in a successful business of boat dealerships and from being a pilot. But despite his success, the smell of the ocean and the adrenaline rush that comes with rescuing a swimmer in trouble always crossed his mind.
"I'm strictly doing this because I love it," Knight said.
Knight's admiration for the job started at age 5 when he visited Daytona Beach after his mother bought a motel.
"I just worshipped the lifeguard," Knight recalled.
So, in 1969, while at the then-Daytona Beach Junior College Knight worked with fellow rookie lifeguard and late Beach Services Director Tom Renick. In 1971, Knight left the beach for Florida State University to study physical education.
At FSU Knight quickly found a fun way to stay fit and study.
"I joined the FSU Circus, flying trapeze," Knight laughed. "I always tell my friends that I went to college to be in the circus, not to get an education."
After college, he coached gymnastics at a high school in Atlanta for two years and subsequently went into the boat business. Knight sold the business in 2001 and went to work for the son of the owner of the Days Inn hotel chain. The partnership involved building shopping malls and at the same time, he was the executive's pilot for three years.
But the beach was always on Knight's mind. So in December, after his wife told him make himself useful, he decided he wanted to be a lifeguard again.
"I get this call one day out of the blue and it was Charlie," Wooden said. "He said, 'Joe, I want to come work for you on the beach.' "
Although Knight is slower than the younger swimmers, he has experience and a good attitude, said Beach Patrol Deputy Chief Mike Hensler.
"With his knowledge and experience he can see when someone is about to get into trouble in the water and can get them out before it is too late," Hensler said.
Lifeguard Sparks, nearly 40 years his colleague's junior, would like his older years to be as good as Knight's.
"I hope I'll be like him when I am 59," Sparks said.
Knight may lag behind the younger swimmers dashing against lashing waves but he is still fast enough to help swimmers, Hensler said.
Knight is also confident of his prowess and knows his age can't be an excuse in this job.
"Put it this way, somebody is not going to slow down drowning just because I'm 59 years old," Knight said.
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
© 2009 News-Journal Corporation
May 25, 2009
USA: After three years of retirement, 59 year old ex-lifeguard is back on the beach
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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida / News-Journal Online / May 25, 2009
Back to the beach: Ex-lifeguard, now 59, returns to job he loved
By Patricio G. Balona, Staff Writer
After three years of retirement, Charlie Knight said he started "getting in his wife's hair."
"She told me to look for something I can do," the 59-year-old chuckled. "I told her I wanted to be a lifeguard. She didn't think I could do it."
Young Volusia County lifeguards also wondered what a man of Knight's age was doing when he showed up for the drills on the beach a month ago. But after seeing him jump in the ocean every morning near the Volusia County Beach Patrol Administration Building at 515 S. Atlantic Ave. for the half-mile swimming drill and keep up with them, skepticism has changed to admiration.
"(At first) I was trying to figure out what he was doing here," said Lance Sparks, 21. "But he is doing great. The daily drills are pretty brutal but he has definitely impressed me with what he does."
And for Knight, there are some things he is discovering he has to get used to as a lifeguard these days. After all, things have changed since he first swam the drill as a lifeguard in 1969. He was 19.
Back then, the half-mile ocean swim, to be made in 10 minutes or less, was "a piece of cake." Forty years later, the Nashville, Tenn., native who turns 60 in September described the drill as "harder." Today, lifeguards make the swim every morning at 8:30 a.m., instead of weekly as it was done 40 years ago.
He joked that he swallows so much salt water he's left with no appetite.
"It's killing me but the cool thing is that everybody out there is supportive of me," Knight said. "I've been treated like a celebrity."
But Knight's training, which started in December, is toughening an already physically fit man for the "most demanding job in the county," said Joe Wooden, a retired Beach Patrol captain.
On Feb. 6, Knight was tested on the drill for his job and finished it in 9 minutes 27 seconds.
Knight is unique in that many former lifeguards dream of coming back to the beach but cannot meet the physical demands of the job, said Wooden, who was taken aback when Knight called him about the job.
On a recent morning, Knight jumped into the ocean with more than 30 other lifeguards, most in their 20s or early 30s.
"Just by looking at him you can tell he knows what he is doing," said Jesse Walliack, 20. "He can take care of himself."
Knight retired in 2005 from a career of building shopping malls in Georgia, 25 years in a successful business of boat dealerships and from being a pilot. But despite his success, the smell of the ocean and the adrenaline rush that comes with rescuing a swimmer in trouble always crossed his mind.
"I'm strictly doing this because I love it," Knight said.
Knight's admiration for the job started at age 5 when he visited Daytona Beach after his mother bought a motel.
"I just worshipped the lifeguard," Knight recalled.
So, in 1969, while at the then-Daytona Beach Junior College Knight worked with fellow rookie lifeguard and late Beach Services Director Tom Renick. In 1971, Knight left the beach for Florida State University to study physical education.
At FSU Knight quickly found a fun way to stay fit and study.
"I joined the FSU Circus, flying trapeze," Knight laughed. "I always tell my friends that I went to college to be in the circus, not to get an education."
After college, he coached gymnastics at a high school in Atlanta for two years and subsequently went into the boat business. Knight sold the business in 2001 and went to work for the son of the owner of the Days Inn hotel chain. The partnership involved building shopping malls and at the same time, he was the executive's pilot for three years.
But the beach was always on Knight's mind. So in December, after his wife told him make himself useful, he decided he wanted to be a lifeguard again.
"I get this call one day out of the blue and it was Charlie," Wooden said. "He said, 'Joe, I want to come work for you on the beach.' "
Although Knight is slower than the younger swimmers, he has experience and a good attitude, said Beach Patrol Deputy Chief Mike Hensler.
"With his knowledge and experience he can see when someone is about to get into trouble in the water and can get them out before it is too late," Hensler said.
Lifeguard Sparks, nearly 40 years his colleague's junior, would like his older years to be as good as Knight's.
"I hope I'll be like him when I am 59," Sparks said.
Knight may lag behind the younger swimmers dashing against lashing waves but he is still fast enough to help swimmers, Hensler said.
Knight is also confident of his prowess and knows his age can't be an excuse in this job.
"Put it this way, somebody is not going to slow down drowning just because I'm 59 years old," Knight said.
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
© 2009 News-Journal Corporation
After three years of retirement, Charlie Knight said he started "getting in his wife's hair."
"She told me to look for something I can do," the 59-year-old chuckled. "I told her I wanted to be a lifeguard. She didn't think I could do it."
Young Volusia County lifeguards also wondered what a man of Knight's age was doing when he showed up for the drills on the beach a month ago. But after seeing him jump in the ocean every morning near the Volusia County Beach Patrol Administration Building at 515 S. Atlantic Ave. for the half-mile swimming drill and keep up with them, skepticism has changed to admiration.
"(At first) I was trying to figure out what he was doing here," said Lance Sparks, 21. "But he is doing great. The daily drills are pretty brutal but he has definitely impressed me with what he does."
And for Knight, there are some things he is discovering he has to get used to as a lifeguard these days. After all, things have changed since he first swam the drill as a lifeguard in 1969. He was 19.
Back then, the half-mile ocean swim, to be made in 10 minutes or less, was "a piece of cake." Forty years later, the Nashville, Tenn., native who turns 60 in September described the drill as "harder." Today, lifeguards make the swim every morning at 8:30 a.m., instead of weekly as it was done 40 years ago.
He joked that he swallows so much salt water he's left with no appetite.
"It's killing me but the cool thing is that everybody out there is supportive of me," Knight said. "I've been treated like a celebrity."
But Knight's training, which started in December, is toughening an already physically fit man for the "most demanding job in the county," said Joe Wooden, a retired Beach Patrol captain.
On Feb. 6, Knight was tested on the drill for his job and finished it in 9 minutes 27 seconds.
Knight is unique in that many former lifeguards dream of coming back to the beach but cannot meet the physical demands of the job, said Wooden, who was taken aback when Knight called him about the job.
On a recent morning, Knight jumped into the ocean with more than 30 other lifeguards, most in their 20s or early 30s.
"Just by looking at him you can tell he knows what he is doing," said Jesse Walliack, 20. "He can take care of himself."
Knight retired in 2005 from a career of building shopping malls in Georgia, 25 years in a successful business of boat dealerships and from being a pilot. But despite his success, the smell of the ocean and the adrenaline rush that comes with rescuing a swimmer in trouble always crossed his mind.
"I'm strictly doing this because I love it," Knight said.
Knight's admiration for the job started at age 5 when he visited Daytona Beach after his mother bought a motel.
"I just worshipped the lifeguard," Knight recalled.
So, in 1969, while at the then-Daytona Beach Junior College Knight worked with fellow rookie lifeguard and late Beach Services Director Tom Renick. In 1971, Knight left the beach for Florida State University to study physical education.
At FSU Knight quickly found a fun way to stay fit and study.
"I joined the FSU Circus, flying trapeze," Knight laughed. "I always tell my friends that I went to college to be in the circus, not to get an education."
After college, he coached gymnastics at a high school in Atlanta for two years and subsequently went into the boat business. Knight sold the business in 2001 and went to work for the son of the owner of the Days Inn hotel chain. The partnership involved building shopping malls and at the same time, he was the executive's pilot for three years.
But the beach was always on Knight's mind. So in December, after his wife told him make himself useful, he decided he wanted to be a lifeguard again.
"I get this call one day out of the blue and it was Charlie," Wooden said. "He said, 'Joe, I want to come work for you on the beach.' "
Although Knight is slower than the younger swimmers, he has experience and a good attitude, said Beach Patrol Deputy Chief Mike Hensler.
"With his knowledge and experience he can see when someone is about to get into trouble in the water and can get them out before it is too late," Hensler said.
Lifeguard Sparks, nearly 40 years his colleague's junior, would like his older years to be as good as Knight's.
"I hope I'll be like him when I am 59," Sparks said.
Knight may lag behind the younger swimmers dashing against lashing waves but he is still fast enough to help swimmers, Hensler said.
Knight is also confident of his prowess and knows his age can't be an excuse in this job.
"Put it this way, somebody is not going to slow down drowning just because I'm 59 years old," Knight said.
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
© 2009 News-Journal Corporation
