North Columbus News

We are announcing an immediate change to the open swim pool hours due to continued staffing issues. As many of you may be aware, staffing for pool facilities across the country has been a struggle. We were aware of the staffing struggles SwimSafe–our pool management company–was experiencing at the beginning of the season, as were many businesses, but hoped that new lifeguards would continue to apply after we opened. 

That unfortunately has not been the case and to date this has resulted in closure of some bodies of water during open swim to maintain a safe swimming environment. This has also taken a hard toll on the core employees that are available and willing to work more hours, but burnout has started setting in. We appreciate the commitment these employees are giving our community, but asking them to continue at this rate is not fair to them nor is it sustainable for the facility. Please know the pool has been operating safely to date with certain pool closures, but SwimSafe is having concerns about losing the current committed core group of current employees. If we lose them, it would result in the inability to open the pool at any level. 

We know this decision is less than ideal, but temporarily reducing our pool hours to create less burnout while keeping the pool safe is very important at this time. Heavy recruiting efforts by SwimSafe will continue in hopes that we can add more lifeguards and begin to return to normal hours. 

We have agreed with SwimSafe to institute the following changes to the pool’s hours of operation, effective Thursday, June 16:

• Monday – Thursday: 12:00 – 6:00 pm
• Friday: 1:00 – 7:00 pm, Comp pool becomes Adult Only Swim from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
• Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

We Need Your Help!

We are strongly encouraging our community that if you or anyone you know is interested in working as a lifeguard to please have them go to www.swimsafepool.com to apply immediately. Individuals will receive the required training in order to complete their lifeguard certification. Currently, SwimSafe is waiving all training fees. Starting wage is $12 per hour.  

Programming and Birthday Tent Rentals

1. Swim team practice and swim lessons during the week will not be affected by this staffing issue as they require less lifeguards than normal open swim operations.
2. Saturday morning programming (adult lap swim, senior water fitness and swim lessons) will continue to take place as scheduled.
3. If you have a birthday tent rental for evening hours coming up, that will need to be moved to a new date or we will refund your money. You will be contacted individually if you are affected. 

Please know, we understand that this adjustment is less than ideal, but it is what we have to do to keep the facility open and safe. As soon as SwimSafe is able to secure additional/necessary staff we will look to increase operating hours. We greatly appreciate your understanding and your continued support for those guards/staff that are showing up and working hard to provide this service to our community.

If you have questions, please contact Natalie Mullin, Deputy Director of Bexley Recreation and Parks, at (614) 559-4300, or by emailing nmullin@bexley.org. We thank you for your understanding and patience!

Original source can be found here.