More Angles on the Lifeguard Problem

The lifeguard problem is a reincarnation of one of the first problems to which calculus was applied; and, as with many old chestnuts, it continues to draw attention. Whitley solved this problem and suggested an approximation strategy for his lifeguard [Whitley 19891. Westbrook noted the connection with Snell's law and used it to construct a strategy based on the optimal angle [1990]. In this commentary, we note that the principle of suboptimality leads to an efficient choice of independent variable and also to the solution of a more general problem.