forced to adapt to the shortage of lifeguards

For a month, due to lack of staff, the swimming pool in Bassemberg (Bas-Rhin) has now been closed every weekend, to the chagrin of regulars. A drastic decision, because the nautical center lacks lifeguards. They are currently three, while it would take twice as many, and online ads have yielded nothing so far. The site director, Jean-Luc Bianchi, had no choice but to resume service, so as not to further penalize customers.

For many years, the profession no longer attracts, because of too low wages. In the public, it is 1,600 euros on average at the start of his career. There are few openings and the training is very expensive: more than 6,000 euros over a year. Another swimming pool, in Haute-Garonne, filled this gap as best it could. The head of the pool has decided to hire holders of the BNSSA, a lifeguard diploma. Contrary to that of lifeguard, he does not teach swimming and the holders can only monitor paid access such as swimming pools under certain conditions.