PLA
Made using 
Overview
The Pacific Lifesaving Club (PLC) website is a full-scale digital platform developed to manage and promote British Columbia's largest and most successful lifesaving sport club. Originally founded in 2014 as the Pacific Swim Academy, the organization has since grown to include elite athlete development, beach lifeguard training, and community outreach initiatives. The website serves as a high-traffic hub for registration, program information, and community leadership development, designed to bridge the gap between recreational swimming and professional lifeguard certification.
Program Hierarchy
Three primary streams:
Learn to Swim, Pool Lifesaving, and Surf Lifesaving, ensuring clear entry points for all skill levels.
Developmental Path
Features a "Recommended Path for Development" that guides members from basic water comfort to professional certifications as Lifeguard and Swim Instructor.
Tiered Skill Levels
Utilizes a color-coded system (Green, Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold) to manage junior and senior progressions based on specific aquatic proficiencies and time standards.
Educational Integration
Built-in educational modules, such as "What is Lifesaving?", use video and descriptive content to introduce the public to the growing sport of competitive lifesaving.
The Design Challenge
The primary challenge was Information Synthesis. The platform needed to host a vast amount of technical data, including certification ages, pool locations, and swim-time requirements, while maintaining an inviting and community-focused atmosphere for families.
The Solution:
- Visual Storytelling: By utilizing high-action photography of training in pools and on beaches, the site conveys the club's "Beyond Sport" ethos through emotion and energy rather than just text info.
- Structured Grid Layouts: Using Squarespace, I implemented a clear block-based structure that organizes program details, "Meet the Team", and "Our Values" into digestible blocks, providing flexible content organization for administrative members.
Reflections
The Pacific Lifesaving Club site demonstrates my ability to take a complex real-world organization and translate its mission into a focused digital experience. By focusing on content hierarchy, clear progression pathways, and community-forward design, the site facilitates the organization's goal of preventing water-related injuries through education and elite athletic training.