Charleston County Parks Safety Program Manager Receives Lifetime Honor from United States Lifesaving Association

Press Release

The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission’s (CCPRC) Safety Program Manager Nikki Bowie was recently honored as a Life Member of the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA).

USLA Life Memberships are an incredible honor, with only 53 people ever having been recognized. Bowie, who oversees CCPRC’s beach and waterpark lifeguarding program, is the only Life Member in South Carolina.

Bowie has been CCPRC’s safety program manager since 2008, but has spent her life protecting swimmers. She began her career as an ocean rescue lifeguard with CCPRC in 1986. Five years later she was promoted to manager of Kiawah Beachwalker Park, then became Folly Beach County Park manager in 1995. Bowie became CCPRC’s aquatics coordinator in 1997, and then moved into her current role nine years later. As safety program manager, today Bowie oversees lifeguarding and emergency safety programs throughout CCPRC’s facilities, including the ocean rescue guards at Folly Beach County Park, Kiawah Beachwalker Park and Isle of Palms County Park; as well as the waterpark guards at Splash Zone, Splash Island and Whirlin’ Waters Adventure Waterpark. Bowie’s role as safety manager has led to innovative programs serving the Charleston community including CCPRC’s portable pool program, which brings swimming lessons directly to children in underserved communities.

Bowie, a member of the USLA’s South Atlantic Region since its inception in the 1990s, has been instrumental in hosting regional lifeguard championships and as a member of the region’s leadership team. She served on the region’s executive board for 10 years, and even lends her expertise to other chapters and agencies, such as helping implement a junior lifeguard program in Hilton Head. She has served on the national executive board of the USLA for the past 16 years as the secretary and was the Heroic Acts Committee chairperson prior to being elected to the board.

The United States Lifesaving Association is America’s nonprofit professional association of beach lifeguards and open water rescuers. The USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means. Over the years, USLA has conferred Life Memberships on a very limited number of persons who have made extraordinary contributions to lifesaving and to USLA. The minimum criteria for Life Membership and the nomination process includes 20 years of service in open water lifesaving, ten years active service and membership in USLA, service as a member of the Board of Directors or an elected national officer, and a significant contribution to the humanitarian goals and objectives of USLA. Visit USLA.org for more information.

For more information on CCPRC, visit CharlestonCountyParks.com or call 843-795-4386.

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