Opening Day 28 July 1906: 4/4

Alfred French was the first bathing attendant at the new pool. He is unlikely to have had the skills of a modern-day lifeguard. He was accorded the honour of being allowed to take the first official dive into the bathing-lake. French worked six days a week and was paid 30 shillings. It's not known how long he stayed in post. In 1907 he was awarded a Royal Humane Society certificate for saving a man from drowning. He is commemorated in one of the memorial plaques on the western terrace wall at the lido.