March 20, 2015 at 3:36 p.m.
Someone You Should Know: Melissa Nieman
Someone You Should Know: Melissa Nieman
RN: Please explain your job.
Nieman: I am the YMCA aquatics director so I hire, train and supervise all the lifeguards and swim instructors and I also do water safety programming for the Northwoods. I teach lifeguarding. I'm an American Red Cross instructor so I teach CPR, first aid, AED, anything really that you can think of that the American Red Cross offers I can teach. I do junior lifeguarding courses which I love - those are my favorites - so that's a lifeguarding course for kids 11 to 15 years old, that's a personal favorite of mine. I teach swimming lessons for ages 6 months to, oh gosh, you name it if I had a 100 year old here I'd teach them how to swim. I also am a volunteer coach for the Rhinelander Swim Club for the 8 and under program. So I do quite a bit. I do a lot of the events here. I do the Healthy Kids Day, the Father-Daughter Dance, but mostly I would say come June I am 100 percent lifeguard training for our local camps: Camp Birchrock, Camp Menominee - that's a new one, they're a great camp - Camp Timberlane, Camp Deerhorn.
RN: How long have you held this job?
Nieman: I have been with this YMCA, it'll be my seven-year anniversary and I have been the aquatic director I would say about four years but I started as a swim instructor. I moved here from Aspen, Colo. on a whim and started as a swim instructor and worked my way up.
RN: What is your favorite part of the job?
Nieman: I am a people person. I love our members and our guests, just seeing these kids smiling and having fun in the swimming pool because I grew up a competitive swimmer - I grew up in the YMCA, I was a YMCA brat myself since I was 7 years old. So it's gone full-circle for me from starting as a 7-year-old swimmer for the YMCA and now doing what I love and teaching kids how to swim and showing them my love for the water, that's my favorite part about the job.
RN: What is the biggest misconception about the job?
Nieman: My biggest struggle is that people forget we are a non-profit so we have to work really, really hard to keep our programs ... so I think the biggest thing for me is that I want people to come here and utilize it and teach their kids to swim no matter where they come from, no matter their background but I want every child to learn how to swim. Sometimes I hear that my programs are too expensive but we have scholarships available for that so I just want more people to come here and use our swim lessons no matter what.
A lot of people think I swim and lifeguard all day, but I do spend a lot of time doing desk work, researching and writing grants, keeping up-to-date on swim techniques and keeping our pool area clean. I also love to be involved in the events here at the Y - I am known to like a great party.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Nieman: Ski. I love to ski. I am an avid downhill-skier. Like I said, I moved here from Aspen, Colo. I worked on the Aspen Ski Company race team, so that and spend time with my family. I am a Yooper, I love everything that has to do with my hometown of Ironwood, Mich. so any chance that I get I go home to the U.P. I am so proud of my Yooper heritage. I also love to camp, dance, travel, sauna and of course I enjoy open-water swimming.
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