As the summer heats up, so has the City’s need for available lifeguards. Due to a current lifeguard shortage affecting the entire state of Colorado, the opening of Lake Loveland Swim Beach was delayed.
The Chilson Indoor Pool, Winona Outdoor Pool, and Lake Loveland Swim Beach all need lifeguards to safely manage swimmers at each location. Swim beach lifeguards require additional open water certifications and training, making staffing this location especially challenging.
“We know how much our community depends on City-provided swimming spots to beat the heat every summer, but we need to make sure we can do that safely,” said LeAnn Williams, recreation manager for the City of Loveland’s Parks & Recreation Department. “Cities across the state are suffering from a lifeguard shortage resulting from previous COVID-19 closures. While this isn’t ideal, the safety of our community is the most important thing, and we ask that residents please obey signs, operating hours, and lifeguard warnings until we can staff up.”
The City’s Parks & Recreation Department relies on 40 additional seasonal lifeguard positions to fill 20-25 or more shifts per day to safely manage swimmers across its three locations each summer. Lifeguard staffing took a hit in 2020 due to COVID-related closures and so far in 2021, the City is currently operating at 50% of its regular aquatics staffing levels due to the shortage. It is unsafe to schedule lifeguards for more than 40 hours per week, so schedules depend on filling every position. Recruitment efforts have been underway for several months, but there aren’t as many available lifeguards to fill those seasonal positions.
“We need to schedule at least 20 lifeguards per day to safely operate all three facilities during regular hours at full capacity,” said Williams. “Right now, our three full-time aquatics employees are working overtime just to operate the Chilson Pool and the recently opened Winona Pool with our seasonal team. We continue to recruit and train new lifeguards as fast as we can and want to thank the community in advance for your patience and understanding as we work to find and train available lifeguards to safely operate all of our swimming areas this summer.”
Anyone interested in applying to be a lifeguard with the City this summer can apply at https://bit.ly/2TFGRsC. Interested residents who are currently not a certified lifeguard can contact [email protected] for training opportunities.
Stay updated on swimming-related news and updates through the City of Loveland swimming webpage: https://www.lovgov.org/services/parks-recreation/chilson-recreation-center/swimming and through City of Loveland Parks & Recreation social media channels, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.