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Civic worker selected as volunteer lifeguard

DUBAI - A lifeguard working with the Parks Section in the Public Parks and Horticulture Department of Dubai Municipality has been selected to be a volunteer for the Olympic Games 2004, to be held next month at Athens, Greece.

Alexander Bautista, who has been working with the municipality for the last 10 years, is currently on duty at Jumeirah Open Beach.

According to the offer letter he received from Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President, Athens 2004 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Mr Bautista will be working as a lifeguard volunteer during the Triathlon competition that will be held at the Olympic Centre at Vouliagmeni in Athens. As per the norms and conditions of the Olympic Games, Bautista will be called upon to participate in the Volunteer Training Programme that includes orientation training, venue training and job specification training.

A native of the Manila, Philippines, Mr Bautista will be leaving for Athens on August 15, and will return by the end of the moth.

"It is a privilege to represent Dubai Municipality and the UAE at such a big international event," Mr Bautista said.

He said he has been working on this since February this year. "I submitted my application online, and they interviewed me over the phone. The criteria was previous experience in triathlon competitions. Triathlon includes three items such as Swimming, Cycling and Running. Since I am a triathlon athlete, I have experience in all these items, and I was selected on this basis," he explained.

Mr Bautista, an undergraduate in Business Administration and Management, was a triathlon champion in the Far Eastern University of Manila, and was a record holder at the university in the 5, 000 metre race.