Marin public pools strained by lifeguard shortage

After being closed for the past two summers because of the coronavirus pandemic, the McNears Beach Park swimming pool in San Rafael was nearly shut again this year for an entirely different reason: a lifeguard shortage.

“We were really having a hard time,” said Blain Thompson, supervising ranger at the park. “It was kind of miraculous that we were able to get so many lifeguards to just apply in the last month or so. It really kind of saved the season.”

The McNears situation is not an anomaly. Other public pools in Marin and throughout the Bay Area have been experiencing similar shortages of lifeguard applicants because of the pandemic.

The shortage has left some pools understaffed and others having just enough to cover day-to-day operations. The effect has been limited pool hours and a decrease in the number of aquatics programs offered.

The problem goes beyond the Bay Area. More than one-third of the public pools in the U.S. are affected by a lifeguard shortage, according to the American Lifeguard Association.

The McNears Beach Park pool, which typically opens on Memorial Day weekend in May, just opened to the public on Thursday after the county was able to hire enough lifeguards. Thompson said he typically starts receiving applications at the start of the year, but this year he didn’t receive any until about May.

The county also had to train an unprecedented number of applicants to become lifeguard-certified this season, Thompson said.

The county’s recent job listings for lifeguards offered hourly pay of $19.01 to $27.96, depending on experience level.

The city of San Rafael, which runs the community pools in Terra Linda and the Hamilton area of Novato, experienced similar challenges, but so far has been able to operate normal hours and days, said Craig Veramay, the city’s recreation director. Pool managers say they are struggling to hire in part because the pandemic caused pools to open fewer days or hold fewer lifeguard training programs.

“A lot of the pools were not as active and did not have as much of a need for staffing,” Veramay said. “Typically there is a pipeline of pool users that want to get a job and get that certification. A lot of that pipeline stopped during COVID. The whole industry is kind of coming back from that.”

The city offers a free 30-hour lifeguard certification class, a credential that can often cost $200 to $300.

“We’d love to help with the shortage by training as many people as we can because it’s a really valuable and rewarding job,” Veramay said. “A lot of younger people do take these jobs but this is a job that anyone could do.”

In addition to lifeguards, the city is trying to find more swim instructors.

“There is really strong demand for swim classes,” Veramay said. “We have quite a few people on the waitlist.”

Luke Fretwell, recreation director at the Marinwood Community Center, said he has noticed a decline in lifeguard job applications for the past seven to eight years.

“This has been the worst year as far as hiring lifeguards. We tried to teach as many classes as we could,” Fretwell said. “We’ve tried to get as many as we can. It’s definitely been like pulling teeth to try to get people to work.”

While part of the problem is competition from other pools, Fretwell said he has also noticed a shift in mindset in the typical high school- and college-aged applicants. Where applicants would previously come in and accept the pay rate and schedule offered to them, some applicants are looking to work fewer days to have time for other pursuits such as volunteering or sports, Fretwell said.

“That’s potentially a healthy thing in some ways but very challenging to piece together a functional schedule,” Fretwell said.

Another pressure is the highly competitive job market. The training and potentially high-stress tasks of a lifeguard might seem less attractive compared to other jobs that pay similar wages but have fewer demands.

For now, Fretwell said, the pool has enough staff to operate its regular schedule.

“Just crossing my fingers we can stay open the whole season,” he said.

The Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.