CARNDUFF - High on the walls of the Carnduff Pool office, you’ll see walls of fame of a sort. Lifeguarding staff of the past 25 years are listed there and a name that pops up often is Purves.
The current manager of the pool also happens to be a Purves. Corey. When she was born 18 years ago, the manager was Sarah who eventually became her aunt when she married Corey’s uncle, assistant manager Cory.
So Corey comes by lifeguarding honestly. Her name is on the wall several times. This is her fifth year as a lifeguard, her first as manager. She was assistant manager last year.
Corey has loved the water for as long as she can remember. She took her lessons in Carnduff and completed all the available levels. She then trained in Estevan, receiving her Red Cross Senior Guard and Water Safety Instructor certificates. Then it was off to Weyburn, where she received a certificate in Pool Operations.
She loves lifeguarding. She is thankful that she has never had to rescue anyone. Some might say that a sign of a really good guard is that they prevent serious accidents from even happening. She also recalls some embarrassing moments. Last summer, as the assistant, it was her responsibility to fill the pool and she forgot to turn off the tap when she went home. When she returned to work the following day, well, let’s just say that the neighbouring park was very well-watered. Thankfully, her boo-boo didn’t get in the way of being promoted this summer.
One of the perks in managing her staff of 10 is that she can assign the jobs she’d prefer not to do, like cleaning gunk and dead animals out of skimmers. She also gets to boss around another Purves, her brother Chance.
Purves is also a competitive swimmer. She has been swimming with the Oxbow Sea Wolves and has placed as high as seventh in provincial competitions. That was in Rosetown in 2019 when she competed in the breaststroke event. Her competitive swimming has lessened lately as the coach of the team stepped down. It seemed like the team might have to fold, so Purves stepped up and now coaches the team. She’s hoping to swim in the provincials again, but being coach might provide too much of a distraction.
This summer might signal the end of Corey’s lifeguarding career. She is graduating from Grade 12 and plans to attend Canadian Tourism College in Vancouver. After three months of training, her future will be up in the air as a flight attendant. She’ll miss Carnduff. She has been very involved in the community and sports and it’s going to be tough to leave her family and friends. As excited as she is about her future, it’s tinged with sadness about what she’ll leave behind.
Corey is a very ambitious young lady. She has a bright future ahead of her and Carnduff Pool’s wall of fame shows that her past has been pretty good too.
