MILWAUKEE COUNTY — With three months until the official start of summer, Milwaukee County Parks is less than halfway to its goal for lifeguard staffing levels this season.
“The ultimate dream is to have 250 lifeguards so we’re able to open our aquatic facilities,” explained Andrea Wallace, the Assistant Director of Recreation and Business Services.
A head lifeguard at one of the County’s pooled shared there are currently around 100 lifeguards.
That’s why Milwaukee County Parks is offering free in-water training classes to put interested parties on the path to certification.
On top of the classes, they’re offering incentives like Brewers tickets, Summerfest tickets, Milwaukee County Parks attraction tickets, and a sign-on bonus.
“We’re really trying to boost up those incentives and make it more appealing to come to classes. We’re seeing how we can partner together to make this lifeguard shortage a little less impactful,” Wallace said.
According to the American Lifeguard Association, the shortage of lifeguards has been an ongoing issue.
Roughly a third of the country’s 309,000 public swimming pools remained closed or opened sporadically in 2022 due to the shortage, according to their website.
Because of a lack of qualified lifeguards in recent years, many local pools were closed.
As for this year?
Wallace said they’re still waiting to see how many people come to the remaining classes along with rehires from seasons past.
“It all depends on staff we have, where it’s located, and what other amenities are offered,” Wallace explained.
She and others are optimistic though.
“I love it. I love seeing more people want to come out and do it. Especially the past few years, we’ve been trying to grow so it’s cool seeing a bigger class than we’ve seen before,” Kaitlyn Delong, a lifeguard at Noyes Pool, said.
To help train the 2024 lifeguard corps, there is one more round of free classes, and possibly more to come.
The next session starts Monday, April 22 at 6 p.m. at Pulaski Pool.
To qualify for training as a lifeguard for the Milwaukee County Parks, you must be at least 16 years of age by the time of hire, in good physical condition, and able to swim 100 meters in less than 1 minute 45 seconds. You don't need any previous experience as a lifeguard to sign up.
2024 Lifeguard pay starts at $17.13/hour. For more information, you can visit their website.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
