Lifeguard shortages closed thousands of pools and beaches during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing requirements disrupted training and rising wages lured some workers to other summer jobs.
Now, some states and cities say they’re back in the swim of things, thanks to major changes in how they train, recruit and compensate lifeguards.
Several states, including Connecticut and New York, lowered their minimum lifeguard age to 15 years old this summer. Dozens of cities raised lifeguard pay and offered eye-popping bonuses. In San Antonio, Texas — where all but one municipal pool opened this summer, after three years of closures and delays — the Parks and Recreation Department even decked out a parade float, complete with live plants and light-up butterflies, to promote an aggressive recruitment campaign.
“We had digital billboards on highways, we had graphics up at bus shelters, we had radio ads and street banners,” said Shanea Allen, the San Antonio parks and recreation manager who oversees the aquatics program. “We were everywhere. If you were in San Antonio this spring, you couldn’t miss us.”
In many ways, the push represents what some government and industry officials call an overdue reappraisal of lifeguarding — an iconic and critical public safety job that has nonetheless been relegated, in many places, to low-paid students on summer break. Periodic shortages have plagued American pools and beaches for decades, forcing some communities to reduce hours or close...
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