Celebrating Linda-Sue and Oscar: A Legacy of Water Safety and Lifeguarding
Aquatic Solutions is proud to honor the memory of two extraordinary individuals, Linda-Sue Sutherland and Oscar Pineda. Their dedication to water safety and their passion for teaching inspired countless lives. Both of these recognized individuals were the best of the best and captured the essence of helping, nurturing, and educating thousands of people over many years. Their memories will live in each person they have taught and we are honored to put this scholarship program in place that we know aligned with their values and beliefs and overall betterment for Aquatics and the communities they cherished. We could not have been prouder of their contributions to help so many any way they could.
To carry on their legacy, we are launching two scholarship programs in their honor:
Linda-Sue’s “Kickers” For aspiring Water Safety Instructors (WSI), this program covers the costs of WSI certification, including materials and fees. Recipients will also receive mentorship and job placement assistance. Linda-Sue Sutherland had a passion for teaching and giving back to the community. She was recognized by the American Red Cross as Volunteer of the year one year and served in Aquatics overall for over 40 years in various roles as well as always helping where needed, whether it was a media interview for the Red Cross, helping out in disaster areas as part of the Red Cross response or just always being the person, both professionally and personally to all who knew her, who helped others tirelessly who needed it. She brought that same energy to Aquatic Solutions who was very proud to have an instructor of her caliber within its family. Her passing a few years ago left a legacy that still, to this day, has continued to inspire so many to follow in her footsteps and memories that will keep on “kicking” for years to come with each successful participant to come out of this program.
Oscar’s “Saves” For those seeking to become American Red Cross Lifeguards, this program covers the costs of Lifeguard certification, including materials and fees. Recipients will also receive mentorship and job placement assistance. Oscar was a truly gifted Instructor and Instructor Trainer across various Red Cross disciplines. He was heavily involved in Aquatics for both Aquatic Solutions and the American Red Cross and even appears in the new American Red Cross Lifeguarding videos. Oscar contributed as an Educator for the American Red Cross and translating many of the First Aid/CPR/AED materials so that the Spanish population can more easily utilize and participate in the high quality American Red Cross courses offered. Recently he assisted in the new Whales Tales program. Oscar also did numerous media interviews to champion the Red Cross and is mission.
Those who successfully come out of the program will be another student helped and essentially “saved” in his memory which will hopefully continue to enrich his legacy for future generations of Lifeguards to know who he was to so many.
Eligibility:
Note: To be considered for either program, applicants must demonstrate significant financial difficulties (please do not apply, for example, if your parents do not want to pay for a class or if you do not have the funds available at the moment). The ideal candidate being looked to apply for this scholarship for these programs can and should convey truthfully via the application process ongoing financial challenges or excessive life demanding situations with their finances that prohibit the candidate to enroll into the program normally as people would.
The ideal candidate also must be very comfortable in the water and have reasonable proficiency to pass both the Lifeguarding Precourse requirements HERE and Water Safety Instructor Precourse requirements HERE which includes being the appropriate age for each program. Should some “Polishing” be needed (Polishing for these course purposes means at or near minimum proficiency for each course’s pre-course assessment) the committee will reach out to Aquatic Solutions for preparation workshops that are available to help the candidate.
Should it be discovered that the person was not truthful and falsified their application Aquatic Solutions has the right to immediately cancel the enrollment and possibly seek appropriate compensation for any training or services provided. The goal and spirit of this program is to give individuals who are less fortunate and without funds or the ability to generate funds, the chance to grow and succeed so as to help pull them into a better situation, offer them a career path and encourage them to inspire the next generation of American Red Cross Lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors.
Please click the link below to be taken to a form you need to fill out to:
Application and Candidate Evaluation Process:
Applications will be accepted starting February 1st 2025. Please submit your letter of intent and other criteria listed above with any supporting documentation to [email address or specific application portal].
Location: The programs will be offered at our Lower East Side, NY, and Freeport, NY locations. Please indicate your preferred location. Candidates who have been picked will be contacted to arrange for course availability and sent logistics for the course location and date of their choosing from available Aquatic Solutions courses that run with the appropriate participant levels required as per the American Red Cross.
All accepted candidates into one of these programs will have the same course requirements for course completion as other students. In the event a candidate is unsuccessful, they will be allowed a reattempt of the course within 1 year. Any materials given to the participant will be required to be used for any reattempt. Depending on the nature of the deficiency, a workshop may be required to help address areas that need improvement for maximum success in the next attempt.
We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to learn life-saving skills. By honoring the memory of Linda-Sue and Oscar, we hope to inspire the next generation of water safety professionals and continue to grow what they started.
If you do not match the criteria needed for an application into the scholarship program For normal General Registration for regular enrollment into Water Safety Instructor or Lifeguarding classes please see below for each class offered to enroll immediately via our regular open enrollment process.
REGISTER VIA NORMAL PROCESS: LINK FOR LIFEGUARDING. LINK FOR WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTOR.
