Bethlehem may extend pool season to Labor Day
DELMAR – While a national lifeguard shortage continues to force pool closings across the country, the Town of Bethlehem has hired a full complement of lifeguards for its summer swim season. With the hiring of 45 lifeguards this year, Bethlehem Town Parks and Recreation Administrator Jason Gallo said the pool will open on June 14 at noon with the goal of extending the season a week until Labor Day.
Last year, the Town hired 30 lifeguards, which was just sufficient to staff the 11 positions necessary to maintain the pool complex at full capacity. This year, Gallo said the Town received 50 applications for 45 slots. “We actually had to turn away applicants because we couldn’t find adequate time to get them up in a chair,” he said.
Gallo reported that 18 of 2023’s lifeguards returned this year. “It’s a great rate of retention and it improves services,” he said “18 individuals have already met our training and know our facility and its rules. They provide an example to new lifeguards on how to carry out their duties.”
When interviewed, returning lifeguards said it was the work environment and people that brought them back for another year and in the case of head lifeguard Lauren Savage, 19, four years. “The pool is run really smoothly and respect is given to the lifeguards and employees,” Savage said.
“It’s an amazing atmosphere. Everyone is very friendly and chill,” said Emmet Surmeli, 16 and a high school junior, back for his second lifeguarding year. Elizabeth Baldwin, 18 and a college sophomore who is a returning lifeguard, similarly cited the work environment. “Also, I grew up going here and it’s nice to keep coming back even if I’m not a patron,” she said.
Nine lifeguards attend college and the remainder, except for a couple of post-college lifeguards, are high school students. The college aged and above lifeguards will regularly be assigned 40 hours/week of “chair time”, and high school students will be assigned hours based upon their availability as their school year closes, also up to 40 hours weekly.
Gallo speculated that the increase in lifeguards was partially attributable to the “COVID gap” narrowing. “During COVID, people could not take certification courses and awareness of certification courses was down. Our pool was closed in 2020, so it all played itself out a year or two later.”
He noted that since COVID, additional certification opportunities were provided by the Town, Albany County and the YMCA. “The increased offering of classes has helped alleviate the bottleneck and lack of lifeguards,” Gallo said. First time lifeguards Laila Gasson, 15, and Juniper Seagle, 15, achieved their certifications at Albany High School. Zoey Bichteman, 16,obtained hers through the Albany Parks Department and Sidney Young, 16, received hers at Ravena Coeymans Selkirk High School.
“We also made applications available earlier this year in November to capture college students when they got home from November break,” said Gallo.
Gallo also said the Town’s lifeguard pay scale may play a role in its ability to attract lifeguards. “We diligently increased pay for guards, staying ahead of minimum wage,” Gallo said. This summer, returning lifeguards will earn $16.50/hour and new lifeguards $16/hour. The New York State minimum wage is currently $15/hour in upstate New York. And, he added, while the Town’s pay scale may not be competitive with private pool pay rates, the Town offers other perquisites, such as not requiring its lifeguards to engage in maintenance or chlorination checks.
Gallo said he was unsure whether other local pool facilities had experienced the same lifeguard recruitment success. However, he said the topic was less prevalent among recreation professionals than in past years.
Still, Gallo is not letting his guard down. He said, “It’s a relief to know we can meet the need we have to get life guards up in chairs, but we tell people to apply with us next year.” Applications for summer 2025 will be available in November.
He also said having a full staff will also help prevent summer season lifeguard “burn out”. “We need to keep them fresh and not working above 40 hours in a week.” Gallo said, “It’s not as easy as everyone thinks to maintain focus in the hot sun for hours at a time. That same ability to focus on detail is needed each time the lifeguard is in the chair regardless of the circumstances.”
Pool attendance in 2023, was 34, 579, down from the 40, 983 pool goers in 2022. Gallo attributed the smaller crowd to last summer’s endless rain. He hopes to see increased attendance with better weather for this summer.
User fees, which had not been increased in five years, will be upped by 25 cents, but just for pay as you go and visitor passes. Season pass prices will not increase. “We want to encourage people to get the season pass,” Gallo said. “Without a season pass, more time is consumed when a person has to prove residency each time they use the pool. A season pass makes a smoother transaction.”
