12th Street Pool closes early because of lifeguard shortage

Aug. 9—FAIRMONT — The end of the summer season came early to the 12th Street Pool this year.

The Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission closed the pool on Aug. 6 because of a lifeguard shortage to staff the pool. According to Director Tony Michalski, Parks and Rec the lifeguard shortage was noticeable at the at the start of the season.

"We just didn't have the numbers that we usually do," Michalski said. "We'd be fully staffed if we had about 30 lifeguards. I think we started off this year with about 20 to 23 guards. So we were short handed to begin with."

Michalski said most of the lifeguards hired to work the 12th Street Pool and the Wave-Tec Pool at East Marion Park are high school and college students. It's not unusual for the number of available lifeguards to decrease late in the season, but this year the problem is especially bad.

Ever since the COVID pandemic, the shortage of lifeguards has become an even bigger problem, according to Michalski.

"I think the pandemic changed things as far as the job pool," Michalski said. "I know there's people all over the place looking for employees, and lifeguards are no different than that."

Madison Bailey worked as a lifeguard at the wave pool in East Marion Park this summer. She worked the same position last year and came back because she enjoyed the people and the environment.

According to Bailey, one reason for the shortage could be that people don't want to go through the Red Cross certification process required to become a lifeguard.

"I think mostly [the problem] comes from the certification process being kind of a long and expensive process," Bailey said. "Usually the process is a couple of days, and you take the swim test and they teach you all the saves and get you CPR certified."

Bailey knew some of the lifeguards assigned to the 12th Street Pool. She said seven of the nine there were high school students involved in athletics such as football, lacrosse and rugby. They finished their lifeguard jobs early to attend training camp before school starts.

A Fairmont State student herself, Bailey finished early too to prepare for school, but she said most of her friends working at the wave pool plan on working until the season ends Labor Day weekend.

Parks and Rec closed the 12th Street Pool first because it receives a third of the number of guests compared to the wave pool in East Marion, according to Michalski. Had a lifeguard shortage not happened, Parks and Rec planned to close the 12th Street Pool on Aug. 12.

"We're just about a week short of what we usually do at 12th Street," Milchaski said. "We try to keep [the wave pool] open all the way to Labor Day and then shut down when school starts, but we are going to have to close some days these next couple of weeks just because we don't have the guards.

"It all comes down to a safety issue at the pools, and we do have a very good safety record at both these pools since we've been running them."

Lifeguard shortages aren't a local phenomena either, according to Michalski. It's a national issue, and Jennifer Lainhart, director of aquatics and track at Mylan Park in Morgantown, concurred.

Lainhart said younger people look for places that put them ahead in their education, preferring internships over seasonal positions. And if they do choose a seasonal position, they're going to work for the better pay.

"[Being a lifeguard] is not the most well paid job," Lainhart said. "Now you can go to Target and work for $15 an hour. We've consistently had to try to keep up with wages in the area."

There's also a lot of stress involved in the job of a lifeguard, according to Lainhart. The pay may not be enough for some to be responsible for other people in a pool.

Mylan Park needs lifeguards year-round to work at their indoor Aquatic Center. Lainhart said fewer lifeguards are needed during the winter, and the indoor pools are closed during school.

"During the school year we have a midday time where we actually shut down the pools," Lainhart said. "We don't open them because not a lot of people come, and then it's also harder to staff."

One of the things Marion County Parks and Rec will do next year is increase the pay and benefits and get younger children interested in becoming a lifeguard earlier.

"We're discussing starting a junior lifeguard program," Michalski said. "So we can get the young kids interested and maybe have more people interested in guarding for us too."

Michalski also said Parks and Rec wants to recruit from the swim teams of local high schools and Fairmont State, but Fairmont State's swim team isn't around for the summer.

While the 12th Street Pool is closed for the season, Michalski said Parks and Rec will honor one-day and season passes for 12th Street Pool at the wave pool in East Marion Park for the rest of the summer. The schedule for the wave pool can be found on Marion County Parks and Rec's Facebook page.

Reach Colin C. Rhodes at 304-367-2548