Lifeguard training opportunities at Sam Ketcham pool were hampered by the summer’s wildfires which has left the pool short-staffed and with reduced hours possibly until the new year, said the city’s manager of active living Stacey Miranda.
“By no means do we want to have a reduced pool schedule forever,” Miranda told the Tribune.
Normally the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex trains new lifeguards in March and April to avoid final exam period and then does more training in the summer, she explained.
“We hire based on that and they work with us in September and October, but we didn’t have training sessions in the summer so we are behind with almost two waves of training.”
Presently there are about 25 people going through the training process to become a lifeguard.
“Some are high school students, others are adults looking to make a change in career to something that’s more flexible and not inside an office,” Miranda said.
Staff at the pool try to train between 20 and 30 people a year to a standard that enables them to work in an aquatic facility wherever they go, she added.
Some go away to university and work at the university pool, some of them stay in Williams Lake to work for a year.
The other complicating factor is that university students are often hired to do the training during the summer, but because that didn’t happen this year, the students left for school and are not in town to help with the training.
“We had no water in the pool for a period of time because of the renovation and then the wildfires came,” Miranda said. “Like a lot of businesses in town we are struggling to play catch up.”
The lap pool re-opened on Monday, Oct. 16 after being shut down for three weeks while construction crews worked to tie the leisure pool in with the lap pool side in preparation for the entire aquatic centre opening some time toward the end of November, Miranda said.
Originally the entire project was slated to open in October, but the wildfire evacuations also impacted its progress.
The hours for the lap pool are currently 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
“We are normally open at 5:30 in the morning and on Saturdays and Sundays we usually open at 10 a.m. and go right through to 6 p.m. so it’s significant on the weekends — the reduced hours,” Miranda said. “But we are trying to get all the training done so we are using the pool water for that as well. It’s like a catch 22, but we’re getting there.”
Nathan Dueck, ,has been working as a lifeguard for seven months, while Rowan Dolighan has worked part-time since he was 16.
Emma Davidson has been there a year and said she enjoys the job because she can interact with people of all ages.
Barb Vincent has been a member of the aquatic staff since 2007.
“I work as a lifeguard and I teach swimming, first aid and lifesaving,” Vincent said.
Miranda said the complex is always looking to add to the lifeguard team and encourages people interested to apply.
“Swimming is a life skill too,” she added.
The Sam Ketcham Pool upgrade project is a joint initiative of the Cariboo Regional District and City of Williams Lake.
For more information and regular updates, follow the project’s Facebook page at facebook.com/SamKetchamPool or Twitter feed at @SKPProject or check the CRD website at cariboord.ca or the City’s website williamslake.ca.