Today we’re saying hello to fourteen new recruits joining our professional Lifeguard team to bolster our numbers for the peak of the summer swim season.
Every summer we put out the call for new recruits to help us manage our beaches and pools during the swim season. Some of the new lifeguards will join our permanent staff for the whole season, while others will hit the sand and patrol the pool deck to boost our staffing numbers as required when it’s busier.
Wollongong City Council Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said that with people unable – or less likely – to travel during the holidays, this year’s swim season is set to be busier than ever.
“This summer is going to be a busy one at our beaches and during peak swim season, our lifeguard numbers can swell up to 75 at beaches and up to 80 or more at pools across the holiday season.
“It takes many hands on deck to manage all of our beaches and pools so I’d like to say thank you and welcome to everyone who’s joined our team for the summer and will be wearing one of the distinctive white and blue lifeguard t-shirt.
“These are highly skilled individuals and there’s a lot of work that goes into being selected as a Wollongong City Council lifeguard. Each recruit has to go through a gruelling selection process that involves an 800m pool swim, 600m ocean swim, two 800m runs and a 600m rescue board paddle.”
Our new recruits will be stationed at beaches across Wollongong’s 17 patrolled beaches from Stanwell Park in the north to Windang in the south.
