Calm waters: UW Lifesaving Station helps keep Lake Mendota safe

It’s a beautiful sunny day. People are swimming, sailing and enjoying summer relaxing on Lake Mendota, the campus’ 9,842-acre neighbor.

But the crew of the UW Lifesaving Station is keeping a watchful eye over the carefree summer fun. Established in 1909, the UW Lifesaving Station’s role is to provide a lake rescue service to UW–Madison students while they enjoy Lake Mendota.

While beautiful and serene, it can also be dangerous. This summer has been especially busy, says Sean Geib, assistant supervisor at the Lifesaving Station.

“It’s the hottest, longest summer we’ve have had in a long time,” Geib says. “People are attracted to the water to cool down.”

On a recent summer day, the crew assisted with rescuing 33 people in one day, ranging from capsized canoes to boat fires.

And that’s why it’s never a day at the beach. Among the crew is Bill Stebbins, although everyone calls him Smiley, an obvious nickname.  A grin is cemented on his face, especially when he talks about the decades he’s devoted to the UW Lifesaving Station, something his father did before him. As a kid, Smiley would spend days with his dad looking out of the tower.

“I thought it was big stuff,” Smiley says.

His dad worked for 20 years at the Lifesaving Station. Smiley’s 39 years of service easily beats him. Now Smiley is eyeing up 50 years, a record held by Harvey C. Black.

Smiley started waterskiing when he was only 3.

“I just love the water,” Smiley says.

He also loves helping people, something he gets to do in his other job at the Madison Fire Department.

“This is a lot like the fire station,” Smiley says. “It can go from quiet to busy in a hurry.”

The UW Lifesaving Station maintains a seasonal lake watch from April through October with student lifeguards staffing the Memorial Union swim pier from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Hours are 11 a.m. to sunset. More than 20,000 people visit the pier each year.

The rescue service keeps close ties with members of the Hoofer Sailing Club and canoeists from Outdoor Rentals, both located at Memorial Union. Openings at the station are quickly filled, Geib says. A love and respect of the water is something all the crew members share.

“Usually when people get the job, they stick around,” Geib says.

Haley Perrin, 20, will be a junior at UW this fall. She helped save two swimmers during her first shift this summer.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Perrin says. “A very cool feeling.”

Perrin, from Verona, started swimming competitively when she was 9. Now she uses those skills to keep the water safe.

“People are always so thankful,” Perrin says.

Crew members take turns keeping watch in the tower. Two 31-foot twin-screw rescue launches are maintained to assist boaters.

Last year, the crew had 720 runs, 275 rescues and 117 assists.

They keep a tiny Buddha statue in the tower, rubbing the belly for good luck, something that even the experienced crew embraces.

Smiley has decades of stories, most that end happily, including the time he helped rescue a hot air balloon that had run out of wind.

But he’s also been at the station for 33 drownings.

“You can’t save everybody,” Smiley says. “We’ve had a lot of tough situations.”

In late June, a 22-year-old man drowned near the Lake Street boat ramp. Days later, an intoxicated man who was attempting to swim across the lake nearly drowned but was rescued by the Madison Fire Department’s lake rescue team.

When the worst does happen, there are resources to talk about what happened.

“As a professional rescuer, you really need that mechanism to talk about it and work your way through it,” Smiley says.

Whether you’re an experienced swimmer or not, they always urge caution and respect for the water.

“Ninety percent of drownings occur when two factors are present: not having a life jacket and when there’s alcohol,” Geib says. “If you eliminate one of those variables, you greatly increase your chance of surviving.”

Sometimes people are embarrassed about not being a good swimmer and don’t want to wear a life jacket, Smiley says.

“They don’t want to stand out and draw attention,” Smiley says.

But Smiley says that most of the drownings he’s seen could have been prevented if the person was wearing a life jacket.

On this particular summer day, the lake is quiet. That can all change in a hurry. Regardless, Smiley and the rest of the crew will be there.

“This is a really unique job. Yesterday, I felt like I was 18 again,” Smiley says. “There’s nothing else like it.”

For more, visit http://www.ehs.wisc.edu/lakesafety.htm.