But where have the lifeguards gone? The reopening of swimming pools last year, after the Covid-19 crisis, revealed a cruel deficit in France of “MNS”, qualified lifeguards. There would be a lack of 2,000 to 7,000, which poses problems for children learning to swim and which puts swimming pools and other aquatic equipment in difficulty. However, only 800 personnel are trained each year, compared to twice as many twenty years ago. A training that remains expensive – from 6,000 to 7,000 euros – and which leads to a job that is often devalued.
At the Blanc-Mesnil swimming pool, that morning, it was Alexis, a former back specialist swimmer, who officiated in the aquagym lessons, while Michel, a former water polo player, who had arrived from Slovakia there. a few years, monitors swimmers, ready to intervene: “I came as a water polo player and this passion led me to become a lifeguard and thus teach children to swim“, he smiles.
Like the seven other “MNS” of this swimming pool, the latter is pampered by Xavier, the director of the swimming pool: as soon as one of them is absent, everything becomes complicated. “We have a big concern about the lack of lifeguards and it has already happened that we close slots on aquagym. We still have staff aware of the problem and working overtime“, he specifies.
There are thousands of vacancies in France: they are often replaced by simple lifesaving diplomas, but they are not allowed to give swimming lessons. This vocations crisis is a real problem, admits Axel Lamotte, the deputy general secretary of the trade union: “There are pools where there is only one lifeguard and fifteen lifeguards. There are many colleagues who have permanent positions, permanent contracts, and who leave the profession because the starting salaries of 1,350 to 1,400 € are not at all up to the responsibilities..”
And yet, despite the shortage, qualified personnel can sometimes be found. “We are understaffed so we are very much on the interim. They prefer to be in interim because it is much more advantageous for them in terms of salary”, slips Elodie, in charge of management at the Odyssée, a swimming pool in Aulnay-sous-Bois.
While the lack of MNS has consequences for learning to swim, they should not affect beach surveillance this summer. “The only prerequisite to watch the beaches is to have the national water safety and rescue certificate (BNSSA), just to be a lifeguard. They don’t teach swimming, they don’t need to be a state graduate“, specifies on franceinfo Julien Lalanne, responsible for swimming at the town hall of Hossegor, in the Landes.
In this department, the 420 summer supervisors have already been recruited. Finally, from the start of the next school year, universities will in turn be able to train MNS through the Staps sector, without having the guarantee that this is enough to make the profession more attractive.