Her face said it all.
Although no swimmer has ever died at an Olympic Games, and there is no record of any swimmer ever needing to be rescued. The International Swimming Federation does not even require lifeguards at swimming pools. But a law in the state of Rio de Janeiro requires them at any pool larger than six by six meters, so 75 lifeguards ended up watching over the best swimmers in the world.
That’s when photographer Doug Mills, of The New York Times, pressed the shutter at precisely that second of existential boredom, as a lifeguard watched an elite swimmer finish their race. The image instantly became a meme: if your job seems useless, think of her.
Anderson Fertes, one of the lifeguards, 39, summed it up bluntly: “The chance that we’ll be needed is one in a million, but we’re prepared”. Meanwhile, others did the only thing they could: watch and yawn.