The City of Temecula remains unstoppable, placing two teams in winning positions in the final “official” round of AI’s 2018 Summer Lifeguard Challenge. (Remember, we have two more bonus challenges left.)

This is the SoCal city’s third victory overall.

Teams Blue and Green came in first and second, respectfully, in a challenge that required teams to don their lifejackets while treading water. (See Team Blue’s performance up top.)

Three factors that stood out were safe entry, proper fitting and application of the lifejacket, and time management. Rescuer safety was imperative with eight lifeguards entering the water simultaneously and moving to a central point. In viewing all the entries, it was clear when lifeguards hadn’t practiced putting on a lifejacket prior to filming their entry. It’s important to the correct size and having a proficiency putting on a lifejacket on land, as well as in the water.

Lastly, how much time it took to complete the challenge played a factor. Go back and review your entry to make sure whoever is facilitating the counting is accurate in their speed.

Rounding out the Top 5 are the City of Apache Junction, Ariz; Town of Davie, Fla. (Team Cam); and the City of Branham, Texas.

While Temecula appears to be the clear frontrunner, we still have two bonus rounds to judge. Points will be factored into our participating teams’ overall scores, so we don’t yet know who’ll ultimately come out on top.

May the best team win.