Yahoo Autos I'm a lifeguard in the Hamptons who works private parties at multi-million dollar mansions. This is what my job is like.
Mikayla Mott, 27, is a swim instructor and founder of Swim Hamptons, a private lifeguarding company.
She and her team of 10 are hired to teach swim lessons and lifeguard at private pools and oceanfront beaches.
Here's what her job is like, as told to freelance writer Claire Turrell.
I've lived in the Hamptons my whole life. I was born into a family of lifeguards and became an ocean lifeguard when I turned 15. I now run my own lifeguarding company, Swim Hamptons, which provides lifeguards for private parties. Many of my clients are celebrities and owners of FTSE 100 companies, and have luxurious pools at their multi-million dollar estates.
East Hampton, Montauk, and Sag Harbor are the main three hubs of the Hamptons, within a two-hour drive of New York City.
Sag Harbor is posh, expensive, yet relaxed. East Hampton attracts an older crowd and Montauk is a younger scene with a surf lodge. I've seen the cast of "The Real Housewives of New York" in the Hamptons, but as yet, we haven't worked for them.
People usually tend to arrive on May Day and leave on Labor Day, but due to COVID-19, a lot of New Yorkers arrived last summer and stayed.
Lifeguarding is a way of life for locals who live in the Hamptons. When you're old enough to get a summer job, you either become a lifeguard or work at a restaurant.
I started as a private swim teacher, and got so many requests I decided to launch my own lifeguarding company in 2016. We're now a team of 10. We mainly teach children, but have also taught folks over 75 as well as adults training for triathlons. From May until September, our lifeguards work eight-hour shifts, seven days a week.
The majority of my clients don't live in the Hamptons full-time - they usually rent a beach house or own a second home.
2021 has been particularly busy as many kids weren't able to go to summer camp, so parents would book us to keep them occupied.
We work all over the Hamptons and the vacation traffic can be intense - it can take an hour to drive between appointments. If I do have any spare time between lessons, I'll try to keep my fitness levels up by going for a run. I've been lucky, but some ocean lifeguards can suffer from torn rotator cuffs and ankle sprains from running at full speed across the sand.
