My City June 2022

MYMUSINGS

Where Have All The Lifeguards Gone? BY LESLIE TOLDO

I have always had a soft spot for lifeguards. It probably traces all the way back to my very rst sum mer when my mother, a lifeguard at the time, taught me how to swim. As I got older, lifeguards were my idols.ey were the ones in charge at pools, and I daydreamed about one day being cool enough to wear a whis tle around my neck and yell at kids who wandered into the deep end. When I was 11, my love for life guards reached a new level. My very rst crush was Sean, who worked on the beach in Pensacola, FL. He let me help him set up the chairs and umbrel las on the sand, and I was certain we would be married one day. Of course, he kept calling me Lisa because he couldn’t remember my name, but I did not let that deter me from dreaming. Over the years as I entered my teens, there were more lifeguards and more crushes during my family’s annual treks to Florida. Of course, at that point, I had given up the fanta sy of becoming Mrs. Lifeguard and only worshiped these now god-like creatures from a distance.

Now that I am no longer in the spring or summer of my life, those guardians with whistles just give me the con dence of knowing that if my aging body grows tired while I am swimming, someone will be there to rescue me. No matter my age, lifeguards have al ways held a certainmystique to me.ey always seem so cool, collected and ready to dive in whenever necessary.While my summer memories may be ooded with lifeguards, these swimsuit-clad would-be heroes are now in short supply. Newsweek recently reported that the lifeguard shortage could shut down at least a third of the pools across the country this summer, or – at the very least – aect their hours of operation. e director of the American Lifeguard Association told the news magazine that this is going to be the “worst”summer. As it turns out, fewer teens and young adults are interested in life guarding these days.e YMCAUSA’s Lindsay Mondick told Bloomberg that young people are more interested in get ting internships and doing college prep work than they are in being a lifeguard. e lifeguard shortage was a problem

for at least a decade before COVID, but the pandemic canceled many train ing classes and even shut a lot of pools down, which did not help matters. To be a lifeguard in Michigan, you must be at least 15 years old and com plete more than 25 hours of training. You can get your certi cation through the American Red Cross; just visit redcross.org/take-a-class/lifeguarding. Unfortunately, when I searched online, I could not nd any upcoming training classes at the Flint YMCA, but there were lifeguard job openings. It’s de nitely a rewarding gig! You get a whistle to wear, and the adoration of countless pool and beachgoers. ®

David Pereiras / stock.adobe.com

An Emmy-nominated anchor/meteorologist/ reporter at FOX66 and NBC25, Leslie Toldo has worked in TV news for over 30

years, nearly 20 in Flint. She is a blogger, writer, wedding and funeral officiant. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA, she gradu ated from the University of Wyoming. An avid kayaker, boater and runner, Leslie lives in Linden with her husband, Ellie the cat and three dogs: Bear, Gus and Lucy.

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