Ever since the 1960s, the number of swimming facilities has grown tremendously across the country. Here is a thought, though: Have you ever seen a university; school district; YMCA; or community, swimming, or country club go from having a pool to not having a pool? Probably not! In today’s aquatic world, if an organization has a pool and the life of the pool is coming to an end, do they do away with the pool? Rarely. In fact, over the past 40 years, the number of pool closures I personally have observed can be counted on one hand. What is normally done is a new pool is built (that is, if renovation can’t be an option). What this means is that there is never a time where the number of pools will be reduced. With new pools being built, that means the number of pools is always growing, which means the number of lifeguards is forever needing to grow.
J.B. Smith is a retired aquatics professional, having spent 4 years with the YMCA, 10 years in a high school setting, 9 summers as a country club setting pool director, and 24 years as a tenured/full professor in higher education. He is Professor Emeritus at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, PA.