Pool to open, but lifeguard shortage creates uncertainty

The Greybull pool needs lifeguards to stay afloat this summer. 

“Most years we have all of our lifeguards by now. We like to open the pool by the first of June,” pool manager Payten Sorensen said. “This year I feel like everyone’s just rolling in late. We had a few apply early on like we like, but they unfortunately just didn’t pass the certification, so I feel like that’s what kind of put us into a pickle.”

The pool has only four certified lifeguards on staff. Three more applicants tried for their certification this week, but as of Tuesday, Town Clerk Hailey Winkler said the staff still sat at four. The adjusted opening date of June 9 was up in the air.

“We’d like to see like eight or nine, but definitely better than four,” Sorensen said last week. 

The cost to certify each lifeguard is around $90. Wages have been raised over the years; when Sorensen started as a lifeguard, the pay was $8 an hour. Now, it’s up to $11. 

“It just has to have more competitive pay so that we can get more lifeguards,” Sorensen said. 

Greybull Town Council voted to raise gate fees from $1 to $2 for children and from $3 to $5 for adults in April, citing higher admission costs at other pools in the area as well as a large gap between pool revenues and operating expenses. Last summer, that difference put the pool about $49,500 in the red. 

It isn’t necessarily lack of use that the pool struggles with. Sorensen estimated there were 60 kids for swim lessons last summer. Records show 3,621 children and 729 adults for recreational use. The Greybull Needs a Pool committee has again fundraised to cover children’s gate fees and go toward swim lessons.

If the pool can get up to a staff of seven, it should be able to run regular hours and support swim lessons. 

Winkler said Town of Greybull employees are set to have a meeting to go over possible routes for the pool, hopefully with a verdict by next week. 

“We’ve had a few people come in and say they would volunteer to help with swim lessons, which would be awesome,” Sorensen said. 

Volunteers are not required to have their certification to help with swim lessons as there will be lifeguards on deck. Those interested in volunteering or becoming a lifeguard should contact the Town of Greybull at (307) 765-9431.