AMID LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE, CALF PASTURE BEACH STAFFED
NORWALK — While beaches and pools across the country are struggling to find enough lifeguards to complete the staff, the city’s beaches are fully guarded.
Norwalk hires 16 full-time, seasonal lifeguards, Recreation and Parks Aquatics Director Pam Raila said.
This year, as in all recent years, Norwalk is fully staffed. However, that hasn’t always been the case, Raila said.
“I can’t tell you how many years ago because I’ve been here a long time, but there was a year we held courses and we did them for free and the lifeguards came directly onto our staff. That’s at least 10 to 12 years ago,” Raila said. “In the beginning of the season, we always have a smaller staff because we do carry a lot of high school kids, but we make sure we have plenty of guards on the weekends.”
The lifeguard season in Norwalk runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, though the last week is difficult to staff as most lifeguards have returned to college or high school, Raila said.
Aquatics and recreation departments are close-knit, and Raila said she informs her guards of other part-time or substitute opportunities in the area to help ease the burden on understaffed towns.
“I hate blaming COVID for everything, but during COVID times, you couldn’t hold lifeguard certification courses because you have to be very close to individuals when practicing skills, so lifeguard numbers went way, way down,” Raila said. “I think that was part of it. I think now that we’re coming out of the COVID period there are a lot of people going on vacations, so maybe the potential lifeguards are taking so much time off they can’t really give them a
position.”
Norwalk has been fortunate to have many of the lifeguards stick with the job through their high school and college years, before graduating and moving onto internships or “real jobs,” Raila said. The community aspect, growing up with fellow guards or seeing them each summer keeps the guards coming back.
“We have a close-knit family down there. A lot of local kids, they’ve known each other from being on the swim team or being in school together and they really enjoy being down there, so that’s in our favor,” Raila said.
Raila doesn’t believe pay plays heavily into the state’s difficulty in hiring lifeguards. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced this month it was raising the hourly pay for lifeguards hired to work state parks and beaches.
The pay was raised from $16 an hour to a minimum of $19 an hour, with a pay range of $19-$21, according to a DEEP statement.
“DEEP has worked hard to provide a salary that is more reflective of the service lifeguards provide to our state,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “We encourage anyone out there who’s still looking for a great summer job to apply right now for a chance to join our amazing team.”
Connecticut is still looking for lifeguards to work at six of the state’s swimming spots: Black Rock State Park in Watertown, Burr Pond State Park in Torrington, Indian Well State Park in Shelton, Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Silver Sands State Park in Milford and Squantz Pond State Park in New Fairfield.
In addition to the increase in pay, Connecticut is providing all required training for state lifeguard employment, with pay for training time.
The search for lifeguards is not a new one, as last year DEEP was at 62 percent capacity by the end of May.
Along with the state facilities, local recreation departments are struggling to find lifeguards as well. In Greenwich, lifeguards are still needed for a handful of locations, including the town’s municipal swimming pool and two islands where swimming is permitted, operations manager for the town’s marine division Craig Whitcomb previously said.