South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program

08/19/2026

This Alum is making us proud! Way to go, SWFD Lifeguard Olivia Moore, on your Rookie Lifeguard of the Year title. What an awesome example you are setting for future generations of juniors. 💪🛟

A little late, but just as great! It is our privilege to honor and recognize the 2025 South Walton Fire District Rookie Lifeguard of the Year, Seasonal Lifeguard Olivia Moore.

Olivia recently spent a significant amount of time abroad, but has since found her way back home to SWFD Beach Safety. Now that she's back on the beach with us, it's time we share the story of her accomplishments.

She started work as a seasonal lifeguard in Spring 2025, following several years in our South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program. She was put to the test early in the season on multiple, high acuity calls, and performed to the highest standard of the District. After learning from and experiencing these serious incidents, Olivia took the weight of the responsibility in stride, becoming an immediate asset and dependable first-year guard who could be trusted to go above and beyond in all facets of the job.

What she lacks in age, she more than makes up for in her demeanor, poise, and maturity. She has a quiet confidence, easygoing attitude, and coachability that helped her make a seamless transition over from the Juniors program into professional lifeguarding. By the end of the 2025 season, she was helping mentor fellow rookies as they learned the ropes she had only months before.

We are excited to welcome her back after her time spent abroad, and hopefully other young lifeguards will strive to emulate her same qualities every day. Congratulations, Olivia, on your tremendous work as a rookie, and let this be the start of a great career in beach safety! 🌊💪

Pictured left to right: Assistant Chief Chris Kidder, Lifeguard Olivia Moore, and Beach Safety Director David Vaughan

08/17/2026

These cool kids spent their summer at !

Here's the portraits from the final day of our July 2026 Advanced Program.

We are already counting down the days til we see everyone again in 2027. Thank you for your support and hope it's a great school year.

You'll hear from us again soon, stay safe! 🌊💪🥰

08/17/2026

With schools across South Walton back in session, we're wishing all of these smiley, summer-loving, and awesome kiddos an awesome academic year.

When class time, homework, or a hard exam don't go according to plan, remember who's waiting for you on the beach next summer.

If your took part in our July Foundations session this year, here's the class pictures we took on the last day. As always, we are so grateful to the parents and families who loyally and wholeheartedly support our program.

THANK YOU! 💪🌊💙

08/05/2026

Bringing home the hardware back to South Walton! Shoutout to our awesome who competed at the USLA National Lifeguard Championships in Fort Lauderdale this week.

We are so proud of each of these kiddos for their work and accomplishments. Even those who may not be taking home a medal are taking home a boatload of new and exciting competition experience.

While we are officially done with our 2026 South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program, we still have a few additional posts and videos planned to celebrate all this summer had to offer.

For now, check out these STELLAR action shots of our kiddos crushing it in South Florida. Way to GOOOO! 💪🌊

United States Lifesaving Association

08/04/2026

Good morning from Fort Lauderdale! 🌊

We are so excited to cheer on this group of at the USLA National Lifeguard Championships, as they represent the Emerald Coast Lifesaving Association.

To our knowledge, this is one of the few times in South Walton Fire District history we have had Juniors competing on the national level. We couldn’t be more proud!

Join us in wishing them a fun and safe day. We’ll share updates soon 💪🏆😎

07/25/2026

2026 EMERALD COAST JUNIOR LIFEGUARD COMPETITION!

It was great seeing everyone for a day of friendly competition in Miramar Beach on Saturday at the 6th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition! The results are in:

Overall Total:
South Walton Fire District: 423
Destin Beach Safety: 327

THANK YOU to all parents and Juniors for a great competition weekend, your support makes this possible. Thank you as well to our fierce neighbors at Destin Beach Safety for bringing your A-game and team spirit once again.

We will be working to upload a recap video soon to highlight the incredible day of competition. For now, enjoy the awesome snapshots! Way to go, 💪🌊

07/24/2026

One more day to go! 🌊🛟🤘😁 Read the post below for all the info on our 6th Annual Emerald Coast Junior LG Competition happening Saturday, July 25. ALL JUNIORS WELCOME REGARDLESS OF EXPERIENCE! No cost to attend.

Tropical Storm Bertha had other plans for this week of but GOOD NEWS! We're still on for the 6th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition, happening this Saturday, July 25. Here's what you need to know:

🌊ALL JUNIORS ARE WELCOME regardless of skill level or experience.

🌊The events kick off at 7 a.m. at the Miramar Beach Regional Beach Access (near Pompano Joe's).

🌊There is no additional fee associated with competing, we just ask you to contribute your time and SWFD Team Spirit 😎🤙

🌊We released an event schedule via email back on July 18, but the long and short of it is: There is a little something for everyone, including running, swimming, paddling, rescue relays, and beach flags! Your Junior can participate in just one event, or all of them, whatever they want to do is great by us. Even if they don't think they will win an event, we'd love to have ALL Juniors out there with the team, having fun, and scoring some points!

🌊Items to bring for competition day include: SWFD Juniors Rashguard and swimsuit, beach towel(s), sunscreen, goggles, hydrating fluids, snacks and/or lunch. Racing swimsuits are recommended for participant comfort, but not required.

🌊Parents/guardians are not required to stay and watch but we would certainly love for you to make it into a beach day for the whole family to enjoy, as our Juniors are proud to show off the skills they've learned this summer.

The competition is always fierce and we can't wait to see you there! Reach out to [email protected] if you have questions.

07/22/2026

Tropical Storm Bertha had other plans for this week of but GOOD NEWS! We're still on for the 6th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition, happening this Saturday, July 25. Here's what you need to know:

🌊ALL JUNIORS ARE WELCOME regardless of skill level or experience.

🌊The events kick off at 7 a.m. at the Miramar Beach Regional Beach Access (near Pompano Joe's).

🌊There is no additional fee associated with competing, we just ask you to contribute your time and SWFD Team Spirit 😎🤙

🌊We released an event schedule via email back on July 18, but the long and short of it is: There is a little something for everyone, including running, swimming, paddling, rescue relays, and beach flags! Your Junior can participate in just one event, or all of them, whatever they want to do is great by us. Even if they don't think they will win an event, we'd love to have ALL Juniors out there with the team, having fun, and scoring some points!

🌊Items to bring for competition day include: SWFD Juniors Rashguard and swimsuit, beach towel(s), sunscreen, goggles, hydrating fluids, snacks and/or lunch. Racing swimsuits are recommended for participant comfort, but not required.

🌊Parents/guardians are not required to stay and watch but we would certainly love for you to make it into a beach day for the whole family to enjoy, as our Juniors are proud to show off the skills they've learned this summer.

The competition is always fierce and we can't wait to see you there! Reach out to [email protected] if you have questions.

07/22/2026

IMPORTANT: JULY SESSION POSTPONED!

Good Wednesday morning to our family. Due to the expected weather conditions from Tropical Storm Bertha, including rain, thunderstorms, extremely high surf, and hazardous beach conditions, we have made the decision to postpone this week's Junior Lifeguard Program to next week. The safety of our participants and instructors will always be our top priority.

This was a difficult decision for us to make knowing how much our kiddos look forward to the program. We also take into account the likelihood that this change disrupts your schedule and family plans. Unfortunately, the forecast does not allow us to provide a reasonable or safe learning environment today or Thursday.

Good news is: The program will resume next week at its regularly scheduled time, and we look forward to getting everyone back on the beach once conditions improve. To reiterate: The new program dates to finish the July session are Tuesday, July 28 through Thursday, July 30. Same time and place.

Additional good news: The forecast shows significant improvement by this weekend, so the Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition on Saturday is still scheduled to take place as planned. We do not anticipate any changes to the competition and will continue to monitor the weather closely. If anything changes, we will communicate updates as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding and flexibility. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via email to [email protected]

We look forward to seeing everyone at the competition on Saturday! Thank you for the support and STAY SAFE 🌊💪

07/20/2026

ATTENTION PARENTS! The South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program is canceled for Tuesday, July 21, due to developing tropical weather in the Gulf. This includes both morning and afternoon sessions.

Tropical Depression 2 (which may upgrade to a named storm) will be bringing 5-7 foot surf, wind, and thunderstorms. Out of an abundance of caution, we are having to make the difficult decision to cancel our program meetings for Tuesday.

As many of you know- it is very rare we ever cancel a session due to the weather. We will be closely monitoring conditions this week and make each day's decision based on what Mother Nature presents to us.

We will send any further updates out via email and here on our page.

Thank you for your understanding and stay safe!