"When I applied at EPCOR I was looking for more of a career, not necessarily a job" he says about his move into a fulltime role at EPCOR. "I'm in the same field - water, but now I'm working on the health and safety side of things." 

After two years with EPCOR, Sean took on a new role as a Laboratory Technologist at the Rossdale Water Treatment plant where he spends considerable time in the field doing residential water testing. While his adrenaline still comes out on weekends, "water safety is a now paramount part of both my day job and my recreational life," he says.

This means talking to over 3,500 people per year and visiting eight homes daily. "Everyday I meet someone new," says Sean. "The fact that I have travelled the world has really helped me in my role. Whether customers do the same activities as me, or they're from a region I've visited, there's always something I can relate to and make conversation about. It really helps me gain their trust, which is important when you think about public safety and drinking water."

At home, Sean's garage is lined with swiftwater, surf, and ice rescue gear along with all kinds of water sporting equipment. "Year round, I'm either training, training somebody, or recreating in or around water," says Sean, who swims, runs, or paddles every morning he can at Lake Summerside. "As soon as the ice is cracking in the spring, I'm in full gear on the water."

Seasonally, Sean manages a stand up paddleboarding school and professional aquatic rescue business in Alberta. From teaching the general public to training emergency services professionals on the water, or providing pro lifeguarding services at events with his team, "there's only a set amount of weeks to take advantage of good weather" and he makes the most of it.

Whether Sean's defying 35-foot waves in Hawaii or testing to ensure the safety of drinking water across Edmonton, he makes one thing crystal clear: "without clean water, I can't play or do my job."