Summer swim order: Don’t let your guard down

Whether due to the lifting of most coronavirus restraints or the result of unseasonably sultry weather, Massachusetts has already sustained a spate of deadly water accidents.

These drownings, occurring even before the official start of summer, raise a red flag to water-safety advocates, who warn it could signal the likelihood of an unusually high number of water-related deaths over the next few months, due to a combination of factors.

Nine confirmed drownings in the last few weeks should put us all on notice, and heighten our awareness, especially when supervising young children.

That’s the message conveyed by a former Olympic gold medalist and a national lifeguard association.

Three-time gold medalist swimmer Rowdy Gaines warns of a surge in accidental drownings this summer.

“I implore, I literally beg parents to get off their damn phone and watch their kids,” Gaines, now vice president of development for the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, told the Boston Herald Monday.

“Parents have to be that first line of defense,” he said.

“Sounding a similar alarm, B. J. Fisher, director of health and safety for the American Lifeguard Association, predicts “lots of unguarded beachfronts and lots of closed pools” around the country, which could lead to a surge in summertime drownings.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, drowning is a leading cause of death among young children, both here and nationally, with backyard pools posing the highest risk for children under the age of 5.

While young children might be the most vulnerable, the state’s recent rash of drownings have involved teenagers or young adults, ages 14 to 19.

And like many other businesses struggling to fill vacancies, finding qualified lifeguards for publicly and privately operated venues has become increasingly difficult, with no quick fix to the staffing shortfall.

Mandatory lifeguard certification is a costly and rigorous 30-hour process — which includes first aid and CPR — that cannot be rushed. To qualify, candidates also have to pass a swim test, which is especially strenuous for ocean guards.

The state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees stateoperated pools, ocean beaches and inland water resources, tries to hire about 600 lifeguards every year. To bolster that effort, the DCR last year increased its hourly rate; it now pays $17 per hour, and $18 per hour for head lifeguards. Also, training is provided for free if the applicant commits to working with DCR.

Even with that pay boost and other incentives, the DCR finds itself competing with community pools, aquatic centers, municipal recreation departments, beachfronts, as well as hotel chains, gyms, condo associations, summer camps, resorts, waterparks, YMCAs, and Boys and Girls Clubs for that limited lifeguard pool.

So, many families and individuals looking for a cooling venue to beat the heat may find their favorite beach or pool closed this summer, or be advised they enter the water at that their own risk, due to the lifeguard shortage.

That’s why we all should heed the state Department of Health’s basic water and pool safety tips:

◼ Children should be supervised in and around water at all times;

◼ Always swim with a bud

dy;

◼ Whenever possible, select sites in public swimming areas that have lifeguards;

◼ Swim only in designated areas.

Not going it all alone in the water would be our best advice. The buddy system isn’t just for youngsters or marginal swimmers.

Take it from Rowdy Gaines: “I don’t swim alone, and I won gold medals in the Olympics,” Gaines told the Herald.

If it’s good enough for an Olympic swimmer, it should be copacetic for the rest of us.