{"id":2870,"date":"2013-06-07T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com-2\/?p=2870"},"modified":"2022-01-06T10:13:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T18:13:28","slug":"the-oddball-at-swiftwater-rescue-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2013\/06\/07\/the-oddball-at-swiftwater-rescue-training\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oddball at Swiftwater Rescue Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introductions around the\u00a0circle\u00a0were going about like I thought they would: guide, Forest Service boater, guide, owner of a new rafting outfit, guide. I’d wondered beforehand what the makeup of the class would be, and I tentatively hoped I wouldn’t be the only non-professional oddball in the crew.<\/p>\n

The introductions got to me. “I’m J. I spend my day riding a desk, pushing pixels around.” What this crew of river professionals listened intently to was a\u00a0bespectacled, gray-haired guy in his mid-thirties,\u00a0ample and soft in the middle, who makes those noises when he sits or stands. (You know the noises.) There was no pointing and laughing, not the least bit of derision. We had great instructors and a great crew. Still, I had to wonder, just a bit, what I was doing there.<\/p>\n

Yes, I’ve been on the water my entire life. I even guided professionally before marriage and kids and mortgages. All that aside, one thing was clear: I was the class oddball.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Swiftwater
The author practicing tethered rescues with Mark from Hughes River Expeditions. \u00a9Jenni Chaffin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m convinced, though, that I made the right choice in plunking down my own cash and vacation time to take a formal Swiftwater Rescue Training course, even though I won’t find myself in the day-to-day of guiding. Why? There are many solid reasons, but hindsight provides three.<\/p>\n