COLUMBUS, Ohio — In an effort to keep people socially distanced and to avoid a rush of people at Columbus city pools, the city is requiring everyone to pre-register before you arrive.
“Because of the capacity limits due to COVID-19 all participants will have to register in advance that includes parents and infants just so we can keep the capacity limit where they need to be,” said Kerry Francis, Chief Communications Officer Columbus Recreation and Parks.
The city says you can either register online here or call to block the hours you want to swim.
Not all Columbus pools will open at the same time.
Tuttle, Doge, Driving Park and Lincoln swimming pools open on June 7 for the summer.
And the remaining pools will open for the summer on June 8.
But not all pools are operating at normal hours because of a lack of lifeguards.
Gahanna and Upper Arlington are both heavily recruiting more lifeguards to join their pool safety teams.
“We are about 10 to 15 short we need about 125 to run all three of our pools,” says Matt Leber, Recreation Superintendent of Upper Arlington.
“We are probably down close to 15 to 29 guards that we have in a typical season, says Brian Gill-Huston Superintendent of Recreation of Gahanna.
Both cities are offering incentives to get kids to come back to the pool. Upper Arlington is paying for certifications after you work 100 hours.
Gahanna is waving most of the certification fees meaning it will only cost someone $50 dollars instead of $250.
Why the shortage? Both cities say there are many reasons including kids moving off to college, but mostly the pandemic.
“There are some that are just not ready to be back out in the public or working and that's fine, we want to make sure that people feel safe and want to be here, and I think that takes time for people to feel that way,” he said.
To see a full list of when pools in central Ohio will open, click here.