It is safe to say Michael Phelps has no need for a lifeguard watching over him in the Olympic pool but the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 18 gold medals among his career haul of 22, will have one anyway at the Rio Games.
And so will the rest of the world's greatest swimmers in a situation that has caused some mirth in the run-up to the competition.
"It is a Brazilian law that any public pool over a certain size has to have lifeguards," Ricardo Prado, the sport manager for aquatics, said.
"We wish we didn't have them either (at the games) but we have to have them."
All are certified, men and women with red and yellow uniforms and equipped with whistles and floats.
But, stargazing from some of the best seats in the house, they are undoubtedly less stressed than watching over their usual crowd.
"It's really one of the funniest things I've seen in the Olympic Games so far," New Zealand swimmer Matthew Stanley told reporters after a training session.