Open Water Guards: How to get OWL ARC certified?

Question

I was once a beach guard at a facility whose training included certification in OWL through ARC.

I am re-entering the guarding world at a new open water facility that is starting operations this summer. My understanding is they currently don’t have a person on staff who can certify others in OWL, and those certifications need to be obtained independently.

I want to re obtain my certification in OWL through ARC and then get my LGI to train others at my facility, but I cannot for the life of me find Red Cross class offerings that specifically cover OWL… all of them are pool guard classes.

How the hell am I supposed to get OWL certified if there are no class offerings? From what I’m reading it almost seems to be done exclusively through open water facilities, but I hope thats wrong

Posted Jan 31, 2026, 1:40 PM UTC

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