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Philadelphia expands lifeguard training hours in push for staff, offering $1000 bonuses to new recruits

You can now train for the lifeguard screening test during the weekends.

Amid a lifeguard shortage, Philadelphia sets to march another step towards opening all public pools this summer.
Amid a lifeguard shortage, Philadelphia sets to march another step towards opening all public pools this summer.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia is expanding lifeguard training hours and locations in the coming weeks as a response to the ongoing lifeguard shortage that poses a threat to the opening of some city pools.

Ahead of the summer months, the city is hoping to hire 400 lifeguards to staff Philadelphia’s pools, according to Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell. Free lifeguard training is now offered seven days a week at three city pools:

  1. Abraham Lincoln High School, 3201 Ryan Ave., Philadelphia PA 19136 Mondays through Fridays from 4:30-8:30 p.m.

  2. Friends Select School, 17th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Saturdays and Sundays from 12:30-4:30 p.m.

  3. St. Joseph’s Preparatory School Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5-8:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m.- noon

The process was previously only available at Lincoln High School pool on weekday evenings.

For Parks and Recreation water Safety Instructor Thelma Nesbitt, lifeguards are heroes. “They save lives on the pool deck and in the shallow end, teaching the next generation how to swim,” Nesbitt said.

However, finding folks to fill in the roles has proven to be a challenge. Most City pools need between five to seven lifeguards per pool to operate at full capacity, though the number depends on the size of the pool and the average number of visitors expected for the season.

Last year, 50 of Philadelphia’s 65 public swimming pools opened amid the national lifeguard shortage. That was a few more pools than the previous summer, when hiring was also a struggle. But this year, in an effort to amp up recruitment, a $1000 end-of-season bonus will be available to any city lifeguard who submits their completed employment application by April 15 and works throughout the 2023 summer season. Candidates who submit a completed application by May 15 will be eligible for a $500 end-of-season bonus.

Interested in becoming a lifeguard? Here’s what you need to know.

What does it take to become a lifeguard?

Anyone older than 16 year old can work as a lifeguard as long as you pass the screening test and complete the Red Cross certification.

To pass, folks must:

  1. Swim 300 yards non-stop (12 laps of freestyle or breaststroke). It’s not timed, but if you stop, you will need to start over.

  2. Tread water for two minutes using only your legs.

  3. Retrieve a 10-pound brick from the bottom of the pool. Then, return to the surface, swim 20 yards (using only your legs) holding the brick with both hands, and return to the starting point — all in one minute and 40 seconds or less.