WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Ever since the pandemic hit, communities around the state of Wisconsin have experienced a shortage of lifeguards.
But the Milwaukee County Parks Department is finally seeing a turnaround in those numbers.
Caroline Sargent was getting ready to start her fifth year as a lifeguard Friday. She assembled one of the lifeguard lookout chairs at Cool Waters Aquatic Park.
“I’m just making sure the pole that holds these umbrellas is going to stay in, so I have to screw it in and then I have to use the pliers to fix it to make sure it’s up during the season,” said Sargent.
For Sargent, being a lifeguard runs in the family.
“My older brothers, they did it too before me and so it was a great way for me to save money for college and to just have money for my college years,” said Sargent.
Since the shortage began, the Milwaukee County Parks Department has been working hard to retain lifeguards like Sargent as well as bring in new ones.
Andrea Wallace is the assistant director of recreation and business services. She said the parks are recruiting through schools and word of mouth along with offering more incentives.
That’s led to a 15 percent increase in the number of the lifeguards within the last year.
“We are really trying to build that lifeguard core. Currently we are sitting at 90 lifeguards which in order to operate our entire aquatic program and system in the summer, we would need about 200. We got about halfway there,” said Wallace.
Wallace said because of this the Milwaukee County Parks Department was able to open six more of its aquatic facilities in 2023 than in 2022. That includes the Cool Waters Aquatic Park in West Allis.
The goal is to continue recruiting to get the number of lifeguards back to pre-pandemic levels.
“If somebody came in and said, 'Hey, I want to be a lifeguard,' and it’s July, we might not have a program to certify them in July; however, we could certify them in the fall. They could work at our indoor facility and then by ready for next year,” said Wallace.
Sargent said it was disappointing to see Cool Waters closed last year but she said she is excited for the park’s return.
“It’s definitely a lot of water to watch. A lot of patrons come every year, but I think it’s a great job as a young adult. You just get to watch the pool to make sure everyone stays above water and make sure everyone has fun at the pool in the summer,” said Sargent.
Sargent said she hopes that by being a lifeguard, she can help people in her community create some fond summer memories that will last a lifetime.
For a full list of all the aquatic facilities open in Milwaukee County, click here.