75 lifeguards have been hired and trained to keep a watchful eye on swimmers at the Rio Olympics.
Everybody's watching the Rio Olympics and some sharp eyes are on not just the world's best athletes competing for glory, but also on those working tirelessly on the sidelines. Said sharp eyes have spotted folks working some of the oddest jobs at the Games.
Trust Twitter to shift focus.
First, it had a mini-meltdown when it noticed bored lifeguards keeping watch over the likes of Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky as they swam for gold in the Olympic pool. Soon, social media exploded with other such odd jobs at Rio.
Here's a look at some of those, as found by Twitter.
1. Lifeguard at the Olympics: It was this picture really that got the ball rolling and everyone commenting on the 'odd' job. According to
BBC, as many as 75 lifeguards have been hired and trained to keep a watchful eye on swimmers. It seems a bit useless - can they possibly out-swim Michael Phelps and his 21 medal haul, for instance? - but it's a job that needs to be done, should someone need help. "It's a one-in-a-million type of event, but we're prepared," Anderson Fertes, one of the lifeguards in Rio, told
The New York Times.
2. Condom distributors: By now you've probably heard reports that 450,000 condoms, 42 per athlete according to
The Guardian, have been provided in the Olympic Village. What you may not know is that there are some people whose job is to deliver said condoms. Knock, knock, here's your condom for the day. Strange job, maybe. Useless job, not so much.
3. Scuba diver: Like The Stig on Top Gear, a nameless faceless scuba diver hangs around the Olympic pool to provide expert and very specific assistance when required. What does the scuba diver dive for, you ask? Swimmer Kathleen Baker, who won a silver in the 100-meter backstroke the other day, lost a pearl earring in the water. Guess who retrieved it.
4. Arrow people: If you think your work situation is bad, think of these people whose job can literally be done by a piece of cardboard on a pole. Twitter had a field day over folks dressed in arrow-printed ponchos. Their only job was to make sure athletes went in the right direction at the ceremony. And in this case, several tweeple actually wished they were one of these arrow people.
5. Commentators who have to pronounce tough names: We told you Twitter went into overdrive looking for these difficult jobs.
Several people tweeted about the pitiful plight of commentators having to master unfamiliar and tongue-twisting names.
Which of these odd jobs do you think is the oddest of all? Tell us in the comments.