Feeling the heat: Stark pools reduce swim lessons, hours amid lifeguard shortage

Brian Ohm expected summer to bring a much-needed reprieve to short-staffed pools of the YMCA of Western Stark County as high school and college students looked for jobs.

"I was very excited coming into summer to finally kind of get that fixed and be ready to go," said Ohm, the program director of aquatics and youth sports at the Y. He served as a lifeguard between 20 and 25 hours a week in the fall of 2021 to help fill the gaps left by a shrunken workforce.

But that hasn't happened.

"We're getting by, but we're looking like we're going to be back to square one here soon," he said.

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The agency is not alone in its struggle to find lifeguards. Pools across the U.S. and in Stark County have struggled amid a national lifeguard shortage. Not only has this issue forced pools to adjust their hours, but it's also affected their swimming lessons.

Many pools have reduced the number of swim classes typically offered in response to the problem — and in some cases stopped providing them altogether.

Lifeguard shortage hits Stark County pools

The lack of lifeguards appears to affect nearly every part of the county.

"I think all of our branches, especially our Dogwood outside pool that is a partnership with the city of North Canton, we've been low all year," said Brandon Bussey, director of marketing and communications for the YMCA of Central Stark County.

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The YMCA increased pay rates this year in an effort to attract workers, Bussey said, but it has not made a significant difference.

"Some of our pools have had to adjust hours. So we have some pools that are closed during the middle of the day, some pools that are closed a little bit earlier or opening a little bit later," he said.

In western Stark, the Massillon Family and Towpath Trial YMCAs have also struggled to fill their rosters. Ohm said they have about 10 to 12 lifeguards on staff compared to 15 to 20 during a normal summer season.

"It's been very up and down," he said. "So we came into the summer looking pretty good for the first time in a while. What ends up happening, it seems that the kids we bring on, they don't enjoy it, they get bored of it, they leave or they find a job that pays more than we offer."

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Many communities across the U.S. are struggling to hire lifeguards to watch over their pools and beaches. New York City's parks department canceled its free outdoor swim lesson program this summer because of the shortage, and many public pools have reduced their normal hours.

One of the biggest challenges in attracting lifeguards is that they must receive certification and pass a swim test. This adds a layer of complication to the hiring process, Ohm said, because other job opportunities don't require employees to go through this type of training for an entry-level position.

To become a Red Cross certified lifeguard, a prospective employee must be able to swim 300 yards nonstop with a front crawl or a breaststroke, tread water for two minutes without the use of their arms and retrieve a 10-pound dive weight from a seven-foot-deep pool, swim 20 yards with the weight using only their legs and get out of the pool without the use of a ladder within 100 seconds.

Lifeguard certification classes can cost anywhere between $100 and $500.

"We're offering to pay for training and cover that, but it's still hard to get people in the door," Ohm said.

Swim lessons limited by lifeguard shortage

Fewer lifeguards has meant fewer swim classes.

Ohm estimated that staffing shortages have reduced lessons at the YMCA by about one-fourth this summer.

The Massillon Family YMCA and Towpath Trail YMCA previously held swim classes at both facilities, but is holding them in Navarre only this year.

Susan Scheetz, swim lesson coordinator and lead instructor at the Towpath Trail YMCA, said some swim instructors also work as lifeguards, which can create challenges when they are pulled to cover lifeguard shifts.

"I've been lucky to recruit some parent volunteers, so I stay within our ratios with an extra body with hands and eyes on the kids. ... We make it work. It's not an ideal situation, but it's better than not offering any swim classes," she said.

Scheetz said she has seen an increase in the demand for swim classes.

"I'm busy with private lessons. People that couldn't get into classes or the days or the times that we offer our group classes didn't work for them. ... I have several other people plus myself teaching private one-on-one or buddy lessons," she said.

Bussey said several YMCA branches have reduced the number of classes they offer and have larger class waitlists this year than in previous ones. The agency tries to recruit workers in a variety of ways, he said, including through social media and online job listing platforms like Handshake.

Still, it has been difficult finding people who are interested in getting certified to teach swim lessons.

"We're definitely down in that area as well, and we've tried to recruit people of all ages to come be involved with that," Bussey said.

Minerva's municipal swimming pool is not offering swimming lesson this season.

The village's Service Director James Williams said in an email that Minerva has 13 lifeguards on its roster, including a manager and assistant manager and two lifeguards who work only if they are needed and available at the time.

This is four fewer lifeguards than ideal, Williams said.

Pool operations have not been affected by the shortage, he said, but Minerva's pool is not having swim classes because there is no longer a certified swimming instructor on the roster.

Not every pool in Stark County is struggling amid the shortage.

The Robertson Community Center pool in Alliance hasn't had problems with staffing lifeguards or swimming instructors, Parks Director Kim Cox said.

"We have been very fortunate to have enough guards for our pool. Honestly, it has been a problem in the past at times. ... As of right now, we have a really good core base of kids in the community that have been making sure the shifts all get filled," she said.

Cox said the pool has been working with the Y to offer lifeguard certification. She said the agencies share the lifeguards, and the partnership has been a "win" for both parties.

Alliance's pool has eight lifeguards on staff, she said.

"I have a smaller pool in regards to a lot of communities, so that might be (why) because I know there's a lot of waterpark-type pools that require a lot more coverage area, so staffing I can see would be an issue," Cox said.

How will the lifeguard shortage affect pools long-term?

Ohm said one of his concerns is how the lifeguard shortage will continue heading into the fall. Several lifeguards on the Y's staff are high school and college students. They won't be available to work again until winter break.

This is also a concern for Joan Rehfus, who works as the bookkeeper at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. Her responsibilities include scheduling swim meets and lifeguards.

Rehfus said the natatorium was undergoing renovations in March 2020 when the pandemic hit, and the facility is only now starting to get back to its normal staffing levels.

"We were good for the spring and summer, but I think come the fall and winter again, we're going to be hurting because a lot of our kids, a lot of our lifeguards are high school swimmers," she said.

The natatorium wanted to offer swimming lessons last fall, she said, but was unable to because of a lack of instructors.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to do our fall lessons again in the evenings when we start back up," Rehfus said.

Ohm said he worries how the shortage will affect swimming operations nationwide in the long term. Lifeguarding may not always be the most exciting job, he said, but it can save lives.

"It's a super important job, and I'd rather have somebody in a chair than have signs posted saying 'swim at your own risk,'" he said.

Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County pools offer fewer swim classes due to lifeguard shortage