Lifeguard shortage forces Raleigh to trim summer pool hours, limit admission

Raleigh is cutting back hours at city pools and may limit admission during peak times this summer because of a lifeguard shortage.

Raleigh aquatics director Terri Stroupe said she still needs 40 more lifeguards to fully staff the city's collection of indoor and outdoor pools. She has about 125 lifeguards on staff for the summer now.

"We really tried hard to recruit and we've just not gotten a lot of applications," Stroupe said. "... I'm looking at only about 50 percent of what I normally have at several facilities so that's why we had to do something."

The city also might need to turn swimmers away if pools get too busy during peak hours. Stroupe said that happens occasionally at Pullen Aquatics Center, but she expects the practice will be more widespread this summer.

"We're putting out lifeguards at every facility and trying to run a seven day operation, but if the sun is shining and everybody is coming to the pool, we are basically telling management staff that they are going to have to stop letting people in the pool," she said. "We will stop allowing admission and people will have to wait to come in."

The city has four year-round pools - Pullen Aquatics Center, Buffaloe Road, Millbrook Exchange and Optimist. Millbrook and Optimist also have seasonal wading pools and other amenities that are open in the spring and summer. Raleigh also opens five outdoor pools during the summer.

Stroupe is hopeful more certified lifeguards come forward to help out this summer so she can keep the pools open longer.

"I'm coming up on not so much time left to actually get people trained," she said.