The city of Raleigh is struggling to find and recruit new lifeguards this summer, causing half of all swimming pools to close.
The city of Raleigh is looking for at least 75 new lifeguards. 100 would be ideal. But we had to delay the opening in some cases. We may not have all water features open in some of our year-round pools. We were limited in instructions and swimming lessons. The shortage is not new, but the pandemic has made it worse. Yes. Covid, we lost quite a few because of that. Some have chosen not to come back, which I think a lot of people have been considering during, during the pandemic is really, what do I want to do, ken Heisler, director of parks and recreation says they raised pay from $9 to $13 in hopes of attracting staff. However, of the final 10 applicants, only about 30% passed the swim test. It’s a bit physically demanding. You have to know how to swim, you have to cover 300 meters without stopping. You must be able to walk on water for two minutes And you must be able to pull a £10 block off the bottom of the pool and swim. And Chrysler says they’re actively looking for lifeguards until they have more pools that won’t open? And we hope it doesn’t come to that, which is why we’re always trying to juggle. Can we open portions? Can we delay? Can we kind of work on it so everyone can get that experience? But it’s really a matter of safety first and we’re not going to put anyone in a position where it’s going to be, there’s going to be a risk in that.