Ever since McDermott pool opened in 1976 Warwick native Doug Stone has been in the water swimming.

In fact, Stone said he knew “Bubba” Paul McDermott a former teacher at Bishop Hendricken who the pool is named after.

Now at 70 years old Stone is still swimming as well as working as a lifeguard for the pool.

“I’m giving something back to the community,” said Stone.

Stone said that last year he was asked by Greg Hindle to become a lifeguard. Stone was certified in 1973 but his certification had lapsed. When he was in college Stone would work as a lifeguard during the summers.

It meant that he needed to get recertified. Hindle is “psyched’ to have Stone on the team. He points out it’s good to have someone older especially in situations where kids are horsing around or an argument breaks out.

It’s been a bit of a readjustment for stone. 

“The training is so much different than when I first became a guard,” said Stone.

Some of the changes that Stone noted are that the rescues have changed and that the swimming requirements have lessened.

For the past few years Stone has spent winters down in Florida where he became certified to teach swim lessons.

Stone believes swimming is a very important skill for people to learn. He said that there are over 4,000 deaths a year from drowning in the United States and thinks many, if not all of them, could be preventable.

“Learning to swim is so important. It's actually something that should be taught in the public school system,” said Stone.

Stone said that one of the reasons why he thinks he was asked to be a lifeguard is because of his experience with swimming and working as a swim instructor.

“They wanted someone with maturity on the deck,” said Stone.

Throughout his entire life Stone has been a swimmer including swimming competitively as a kid. But he hasn’t slowed down, he said.  He has made being healthy and fit a career.

Stone grew up in Cowesett and remembers having a Providence Journal paper route in the neighborhood. One of his customers was Ray Stone, mayor of Warwick. There’s no relation.

Following graduation from Hendricken in 1971 he earned a degree at URI. He went on to become the strength and condition coach at the university for a number of sports including the team that went on to the Elite 8. “Those were my guys,” he says proudly.

In 1991 Stone opened Stonebodys LTD on Route 5 in Cranston. He later moved the fitness business to Apponaug where it continued to operate until 2010.

In his youth Stone won a number of titles including holding the New England record for weigh lighting in his 132 pound class. He bench pressed 300 pounds.

He keeps pressing himself.

“I’m actually a faster swimmer at 70 than I was at 60,” said Stone.