South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program, 911 CR/393, Santa Rosa Beach, FL (2026)

03/02/2026

Check out this former Junior who is officially on the beach! 💪🌊🛟

South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Alum Steele Rodgers is now working as a professional lifeguard with SWFD. Steele took part in several summers ago and has just recently met the hiring requirements for 2026.

What’s even more incredible is his family connection to SWFD! Steele’s older brother Brett is one of our Full-Time Lifeguards, his mom is one of our Seasonal Lifeguards, and his dad works for us as a Fire Inspector. You may also know his younger sister, Josie, who is a current member of .

It’s safe to say that it is truly a family affair in the Rodgers household when it comes to protecting the South Walton community.

We can't wait to see what’s next for Steele. He’s an awesome athlete and sure to be a great addition on this beach this season.

Any former Junior Lifeguards or hopeful lifeguard candidates who are at least 17 years old can apply NOW to work this season. Follow the link below!

http://www.tinyurl.com/SWFDBeachSafetyCareers

02/24/2026

In advance of our 2026 Junior Lifeguard Program, we are incredibly proud to shine a spotlight on a few familiar faces after they were honored at the annual South Walton Fire District Awards Ceremony.

🏆Junior Lifeguard Instructor Nicholas Brown was awarded the Beach Safety Competitor of the Year Award, which recognizes the frontline lifeguard who demonstrates the highest commitment to surf rescue training, skill improvement, and physical capabilities throughout the year. Nick is a former Junior Lifeguard from Okaloosa Island, now a seasonal lifeguard with SWFD, and dedicates his summers fostering the next generation of surf lifesavers through Juniors.

🏆Junior Lifeguard Alum and Current Instructor Tony Spears was awarded the Robert Heighton Lifesaving Award for his role in saving the life of a beach patron in cardiac arrest on June 13, 2025. By performing effective medical interventions and CPR, our responders successfully resuscitated the patient and saved their life. This is one of the first-ever Lifesaving Awards we have presented to a former Junior Lifeguard in our District's history.

🏆Last but certainly not least, Program Coordinator and Beach Safety Lieutenant Brandon Brown was awarded the Tim Padgett Exceptional Duty Award. Recipients of the Tim Padgett Award are those who perform at a high level and irrefutably elevate the District's reputation through their actions. Brandon's five years of cumulative work at the helm of our program has created the that you see and love today. His leadership, influence, and coaching has impacted and will continue to impact thousands of children in our community. This sort of mentorship is truly immesurable and creates a lifelong legacy within the community.

We appreciate the work of all three of these awesome Juniors alumni and current SWFD Beach Safety team members, and ask you to join us in congratulating them on these career milestones!

02/02/2026

SAVE THE DATE! 🌊🛟 We are excited to announce preliminary dates for our 2026 South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program so you can make sure is a part of your summer plans! Here are a few important dates to note:

🌊Online registration: April 10, 12 p.m. CT
🌊Swim Test Options: May 9, 16, or 17
🌊Session 1: June 2-18
🌊Session 2: July 7-23

The dates are a smidge different than last year, otherwise the format is the same. We are sticking with the Foundations and Advanced groups for both months (Advanced in the morning and Foundations in the afternoon). The swim tests and sessions take place at Ed Walline Beach Access.

In the event we have additional announcements, we will make another post to this page. Please keep in mind we are still in the planning stages to make 2026 our best year yet.

If you have any questions, email juniors@swfd.org. We will do our best to respond to comments on this post, but the quickest way to receive an answer is via email.

Thank you for your support and loyalty that makes the SWFD Juniors Program one of the best around. We love you guys!

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Program Background: The SWFD Junior Lifeguard Program is held in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, for children ages 9 - 16 years old to spend three weeks of the summer learning the skills to be confident, open water swimmers and lifesavers. The program began in 2006 and has grown to include more than 200 participants. Foundations and Advanced levels of instruction benefit both new and returning Juniors, with the overall goal to grow South Walton's surf rescue culture and lifeguard recruitment efforts. Topics covered include: open water swimming, CPR and first aid, drowning prevention, rip current identification, beach warning flags, and surf rescue-based workouts with intensive, hands-on training.

01/21/2026

As we prepare to share information about our 2026 plans in the coming weeks, we are asking for your help recruiting the next wave of lifeguards!

Former Juniors are a great fit, but no previous experience is required to work professionally with SWFD Beach Safety. Anyone interested is encouraged to follow the link in the post below to get started with their swim test.

10/31/2025

To our family,

As we reflect on the end of our 20th Season of Beach Safety in South Walton this year, we want to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who supported our 2025 Junior Lifeguard Program.

Juniors can appear from the outside looking in like a fun day at the beach, but we like to say this is not your average summer camp. We push our Juniors to be the best versions of themselves that they can be. We know that holding a high standard for physical fitness, competition, and public safety means it will take a special group of parents and children to make the program truly successful on the beach.

Without hesitation, you exceed our expectations every year. Having invested families like the ones we are fortunate to have gives us the chance to share our passion for open water safety and our mission to build a surf rescue-focused culture within the community.

We even witness your investment growing deeper each summer as you enroll additional children into the program and create an entire summer break around being a part of Juniors. This in turn leads to an immeasurable impact we can have in terms of rip current education and drowning prevention.

It’s especially meaningful to see even the most timid of Juniors find a new sense of self on the beach. While they may show up on Day 1 feeling afraid of what’s to come, they leave on the final day as a stronger, better educated version of themselves. They demonstrate a respect for the open water at such an early age that many adults around the world can only dream of having.

We are confident through each lesson shared- and each burpee or push up doled out- that we are creating something incredibly special in South Walton. The sweetest fruits of this program are also starting to grow this year into full form- We had a total of 8 former SWFD Juniors on our beaches serving the community in a professional capacity in 2025. This is one of the most significant accomplishments for us as instructors in our entire careers.

Whether you have one child who was a part of the 2025 program or a half dozen of them- talk about a sibling rivalry!- we can’t say thank you enough for spending your summer with us. We are looking forward to the off-season to come, where we will work on making next year’s program even better than it was before.

While our page may be quiet for now, trust us when we say we'll be back with more in 2026!

All our love and best wishes,

Your SWFD Juniors Team

08/22/2025

Another member of is officially on the beach working as a lifeguard for South Walton Fire District! Please join us in congratulating Zac Thornton on taking the next step in his surf rescue career.

Zac has spent the past two summers in our Juniors program, most recently completing all of the necessary training to work on the beach with us in a seasonal role.

The Thornton family is very much a part of the SWFD family, as Zac's older sister Bella is one of our Full-Time Lifeguards! It is an absolute privilege to have them both as part of our team.

We can't wait to see what this guy accomplishes next on the beach after his stellar time spent in the Juniors program. Way to go, Zac, we are so excited for you!

08/19/2025

Bringing that ENERGY 💥🌊💪 to Miramar Beach thanks to our and Destin Beach Safety! While school may be back in full swing for our area, we are still dreaming of all the fun we had at the 5th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition. This was an awesome opportunity for our Juniors to showcase the skills they learned throughout the summer in a competitive, surf racing environment. Check out the recap video here of all the competition action! Thanks to all who attended and supported the event.

08/19/2025

July was jam-packed with not just the emergency responses, but plenty of fun as well!

08/06/2025

to SWFD Lifeguard! 💪🌊

Congratulations are in order to Juniors Alum Mariah Fields, who is working her way onto the beach as a seasonal lifeguard for South Walton Fire District.

Her ability to work on the beach includes several signficant training academies, plus physical and mental dedication to pass her swim and run tests. After numerous years in our Juniors program, we couldn't be more excited to see her take this next step.

We are confident her heart, attitude, and drive are going to make her an awesome addition on the beach.

Congrats, Mariah, we are SO proud of you. 🩵 Please join us in showing some love to the Fields family, they have been a mainstay in SWFD Juniors for many years!

08/04/2025

Before school kicks off next week, we have some photos and videos to share from the end of our 2025 Junior Lifeguard Program! We hope you are ready for all of the posts coming your way. 😊💪

First up, we are sharing the album of photos below from the 5th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition.

Thank you Destin Beach Safety for joining us for a great day of competition in Miramar Beach. This is always a fantastic opportunity for Juniors to show off the skills they've honed over the summer.

Swipe through the pictures below to see our in action, thank you to all who attended and made this day special for our team! 📸🌊

07/29/2025

During our July 2025 Session of , we had the remarkable opportunity to recognize veteran Junior Lifeguard Hudson Howland for lifesaving actions he took in his workplace to help a coworker.

We first learned about his story when Hudson was completing his CPR certification and shared with us he had just had a similar experience at work.

He explained that he was at work in the Santa Rosa Beach area when one of his coworkers began choking. She had been eating during a break and then began signaling that she needed help. She was not able to speak or cough, but fortunately Hudson knew what to do based on the many years he has spent learning CPR and related skills in the Junior Lifeguard Program.

Without hesitating, Hudson came to his coworker's aid in providing abdominal thrusts in an attempt to clear her airway. After several attempts, he successfully dislodged the food she was choking on and she was able to breathe again without issue.

Hudson's quick thinking and immediate action speaks so deeply to the purpose behind our program. We don't want our Juniors to just talk about beach safety, we want them to carry their skills forward wherever they go in life and create positive change. This includes rendering effective "bystander" medical care and feeling empowered to truly make a difference.

We are so proud of Hudson and the knowledge he demonstrated to competently and directly save a life. Our Junior Lifeguard Instructor Cadre was able to recognize him in front of his peers and present him with a Lifesaving Coin for his efforts, courtesy of our EMS Division.

WAY TO GO, HUDSON! 👏👏👏

07/27/2025

What an awesome day of competition in Miramar Beach for our 5th Annual Emerald Coast Junior Lifeguard Competition! Thanks to all who joined us.

Props to Destin Beach Safety for a stellar showing and winning the overall team title! They are fierce competitors and always bring a great spirit to the beach. 🏆🌊

Here’s the scoring:

TEAM TOTALS:
Destin: 350
South Walton: 255

BOYS TOTAL:
South Walton: 131
Destin: 127

GIRLS TOTAL:
Destin: 143
South Walton: 89

We look forward to sharing more videos and images from the competition, as well as our July Juniors program, at a later date. Please check back to see all of the amazing footage, chances are you will catch a glimpse of your in action 🤩🎥💪

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe!

South Walton Fire District Junior Lifeguard Program

03/02/2026

02/24/2026

02/02/2026

01/21/2026

10/31/2025

08/22/2025

08/19/2025

08/19/2025

08/06/2025

08/04/2025

07/29/2025

07/27/2025

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