Madison Ray lifeguard historian - Hard Truths & Myths

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On this Wednesday episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, host Natalie Hood (Director of Education & Network Development for The Grit Game) sits down with lifeguard historian, trainer, and content creator Miss Madison Ray to pull back the curtain on what lifeguards actually do, why they’re leaving the industry, and how dangerous our “they’re just babysitters” mindset really is.

From CPR in real facilities to CPR to Taylor Swift on TikTok, this episode hits both the heart and the hard facts.

Episode Summary

Natalie opens the show with a real incident:
At her facility, a patron went into cardiac arrest. The on-deck lifeguard initially walked past—but caught the emergency within seconds, initiated CPR, and helped save a life. The response was described as textbook by higher management.

From there, Natalie introduces her guest:

Meet Madison Ray — The Lifeguard Historian

• Lifeguard, aquatics professional, and content creator known as:
  • @missmadisonray on TikTok & Instagram
  • “The Singing Lifeguard” on TikTok
  • “The Lifeguard Historian” on YouTube
• Creates viral CPR rhythm videos using Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and more to teach compressions.
• Fell into aquatics after a missed movie theater job call and a nudge from her mom to apply at the rec center.
• Planned to become a high school history teacher… instead became head of aquatics at 21.
• Now 23, she’s writing a full history of lifeguarding that started as a 25-page thesis and has grown to 100+ pages (and counting), including research back to the 1800s and original 1938 American Red Cross Lifesaving manuals.

With tuition assistance on the line, Madison made her college history degree directly relevant to aquatics by tying lifeguard history + education into her senior thesis. She argues that lighthouse keepers were essentially the first modern lifeguards—vigilance, rescue, and readiness long before red trunks and rescue tubes.

Myth-Busting with the Lifeguard Historian

Natalie and Madison spend the heart of the episode tearing down three of the most harmful myths in aquatics.

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