When Abby Aagaard was growing up, summer had a familiar rhythm.
She spent countless hours at the Rush City Aquatic Center, splashing in the water, following the lifeguards around and dreaming about the day she would wear the whistle herself.
“I just loved it,” Aagaard said. “I loved being under the water!”
Her grandmother, Sandy Vaughn, made sure this passion could grow. Every summer she bought Abby and her brother season passes to the pool. Eventually, when Abby became a lifeguard, her grandmother joked she didn’t need to buy one anymore because she practically lived there.
“Everyone called me a fish or a mermaid,” Aagaard said with a laugh.
Vaughn’s connection to the aquatic center extends beyond her granddaughter. A longtime supporter of the facility, she helped fundraise for equipment and even sponsored the tiger slide in the children’s pool. Her family’s support is permanently recognized with one of the commemorative plaques at the facility.
Today, Aagaard’s connection to the pool has come full circle.
Now 20 years old, she is spending her sixth summer at the Rush City Aquatic Center, serving as assistant manager after five summers as a lifeguard and swim instructor.
It is a role that has given her a whole new appreciation for everything it takes to keep a community pool running.
“I love seeing everything that goes on behind the scenes,” she said. “I’ve done everything on the front end—guarding, training, first aid—but learning about the chemicals, the finances and how everything works together has been really cool.”
The position also complements her studies. Aagaard is pursuing a degree in business management at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, allowing her to apply classroom lessons to real-world experience.
For Aquatic Center Manager Paul Kirby, promoting Aagaard was an easy decision. Knowing she was studying business and already understood every aspect of pool operations, he saw an opportunity to give her meaningful management experience while strengthening the aquatic center’s leadership team.
“It gives Abby some résumé builders,” Kirby said. “She already had the respect of the staff because she’d walked in their shoes. She understands what it’s like to lifeguard, teach lessons and work with the public.”
One of Aagaard’s biggest responsibilities this summer has been scheduling the aquatic center’s 23 employees, a task that previously occupied a significant part of Kirby’s time.
“She’s taken that off my plate,” he said. “That’s real management experience.”
The transition has been eased by years of familiarity with the facility.
“It’s been really easy to lean on her,” Kirby said. “She knows the place like the back of her hand.”
Like many people, Aagaard admits she once underestimated what managers actually do.
“My brother tells me all the time, ‘All you do is sit in the back,’” she said with a smile. “I’m like, ‘No.’”
Actually, her day might include checking pool chemicals, monitoring water quality, walking the deck, helping lifeguards, assisting customers, solving staffing issues, restocking concessions, answering questions from parents or making sure children are staying safe.
“You’re just responding to everybody’s needs,” Kirby said. “Some days you’re doing clerical work. Some days you’re doing manual work. Some days you’re doing public relations. Every day is different.”
Because Aagaard spent years lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons, she can also dive in almost anywhere when needed.
“I’ve taught swimming lessons for five years,” she said. “I can help with lifeguarding, swimming lessons and now managing.”
For Kirby, those years have built something even more valuable than technical knowledge.
During swimming lesson registration, he watched families greet Aagaard by name while children ran over excited to see her.
“Those things don’t come without putting in the time and being there,” he said.
Aagaard says she feels comfortable with the responsibility, knowing she always has experienced mentors to lean on when questions arise.
“If I ever have any concerns, I know Kirby or Lee Rood or anyone is just one phone call away,” she said.
Beyond its pools and waterslides, both Aagaard and Kirby believe the aquatic center has become one of Rush City’s gathering places, a place where children grow up, friendships are formed and summers become lifelong memories.
Even as a child, Aagaard remembers what stood out most wasn’t just the swimming.
“You were just happy to be there,” she said. “The lifeguards were friendly. They weren’t yelling at you. They just wanted you to be safe. They’d say hi.”
Now, years after she was the little girl trailing behind the lifeguards she admired, Aagaard has become one of the familiar faces welcoming a new generation of swimmers.
For many children walking through the gates this summer, she has simply been the friendly manager making sure everyone has a safe, fun day at the pool.
For at least one of them, she’ll probably be the lifeguard they decided to follow around … just as she once did.
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