Because of the limited number of lifeguards, people in the Bethel pool have to sink or swim.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Fitness Center, built around the first public swimming pool, has come to life thanks to fundraising efforts to address the disproportionate number of drowning deaths in the area.

“I grew up on Kuskokwim and couldn’t swim. We didn’t wear life jackets before, and I was very afraid of the water,” said Bev Hoffman, one of the original members of YK Delta Lifesavers, a group founded primarily by Bethel mothers to raise funds to build life jackets. swimming pool in Bethel. In 2014, the group was able to raise more than $350,000 to build the pool.

For Hoffman, learning to swim was critical to overcoming her fear of being in the water.

“I learned to swim when I was 18,” Hoffman said. “I started taking swimming lessons when I was in college in Florida and it gave me so much confidence and (helped) me overcome my fear of water that I wanted the same for many people in Kuskokwim and the Yukon Delta. . We’ve had so many drowning deaths throughout our history. And you know, there’s more awareness about life jackets, but there are still a lot of people who don’t know how to swim.”

Even though the Kuskokwim River is widely accessible for residents to swim in, Hoffman says there are more benefits to learning to swim in a pool.

“It’s easier to teach water safety and proper pool technique,” ​​Hoffman said. “But the downside of having a pool in Bethel and a fitness center in a community our size with surrounding villages is that it’s not only about teaching all these lessons, but it’s also a healthy outlet in a harsh environment.”

Today, YK Delta Lifesavers continues to raise funds to make the pool more accessible to low-income residents. They also provide free lifeguard certification courses to all swimmers. YK Fitness Center partners with the American Red Cross (ARC) to offer lifeguard training through the ARC Centennial Program.

However, even though the pool is frequented by swimmers and water polo players, YK Fitness Center has had difficulty recruiting lifeguards. He is not alone in this problem. Director Stacy Reardon said this appears to be a trend at many pools across the country.

“Sometimes it’s a level of responsibility that some people don’t like,” Reardon said. “Some of my younger employees have said they don’t feel comfortable being responsible for people’s lives on the pool deck.”

Reardon believes the pandemic has impacted swimming skills among the population.

“In my last (lifeguarding) course, I had eight people try out for me, but only four of them had the skills to actually pass the course,” Reardon said. “Part of it is taking part in swim lessons, which we haven’t had in three years because of COVID. So we have sort of a skills gap that allows people to take classes.”

Many lifeguards are high school students who inevitably move on, attending colleges and vocational schools. As a result of the reduction in the number of lifeguards, YK Fitness Center has had to cut its core community programs.

“There are no lifeguards during the adult swim, but it is open to people 18 and older just because there are no lifeguards,” Reardon said. “We’re struggling to get a clear schedule for our recreational sailing because every week we’re not sure we’ll have lifeguard coverage. We used to have swim parties regularly. People were having birthday parties and things like that and we had to limit that because we can’t guarantee we’ll have lifeguards on certain weekends.”

To help it meet its growing needs, YK Fitness Center hired Annie Lang, its first full-time volunteer of the year, from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps of the Northwest. Due to the shortage of rescuers, Lang said she has done many more rescues than she might have expected.

“I think ideally I would do less lifeguarding and more programming, coordinating things like that as a volunteer,” Lang said.

Lang has seen the stress of a shortage of lifeguards take a toll on her colleagues as well.

“I feel bad when I see my colleagues worrying: ‘We need someone right now, like who can come today?’ And I (also feel sorry for) the lifeguards who come every day, who maybe don’t want to come every day and want to have the day off, but feel obligated to come look at the pool,” Lang said.

“Having more first responders would be very helpful to my colleagues because I know many of them are working overtime and may have to step in,” Lang continued. “Some of them are qualified as lifeguards, but it’s not their main job, so they have to step in and become lifeguards because there are so few of us.”

Although she feels the burden of responsibility for other people’s lives as a lifeguard, Lang said she feels the training and support she has received from her co-workers makes her feel more confident in carrying out her duties.

“It’s completely normal to be nervous about things like this, but that’s what training is for and that’s what the job is for,” Lang said. “You’ll have fellow lifeguards around you to support you, and you know everyone’s going through the same thing. You can also share your feelings with them.”

Lang and Reardon encourage people to become certified as a lifeguard. Reardon said a good lifeguard is one who can actually be present while on the job.

“You take people’s lives into your hands. So it’s really important that you take it seriously and be able to be a good advocate,” Reardon said. “In terms of what it takes to be a good security guard, you really have to be able to concentrate, be able to pay attention, be able to see what’s going on around you and intervene in situations before they become emergencies.”

Lang also emphasized that this is a low-stakes commitment.

“It’s free training,” Lang said. “So I would say just do it and then there won’t be any need to become a lifeguard after that.”

At the moment, the pool is getting by with fewer lifeguards. But Reardon and Lang said they hope to increase the number of certified lifeguards so that even more swimming and training opportunities are available to community members for both fun and safety.

For Hoffman, the pool is a community achievement. She said it is important for all Bethel residents to use the pool to develop the next generation of strong swimmers.

“I want to encourage parents to take their kids to swim lessons,” Hoffman said. “Let them learn proper swimming technique so they feel strong, like if they fall out of the boat, even with a life jacket, how to (swim) to shore. I want to encourage all young people to consider taking a lifeguard course, becoming strong swimmers, joining the Bethel Swim Club, the school swim team. Seize the opportunity. This is our community (YK Delta), it’s for everyone.”