Ashcroft swimming pool will open for the season on June 1

Thanks to community support and engagement, the Ashcroft outdoor swimming pool is set to reopen on Saturday, June 1.

For a moment it looked like the pool wouldn’t be able to open due to a lack of lifeguards says Daniela Dyck, the Village of Ashcroft’s chief administrative officer. However, after the Village of Ashcroft put out a last-minute call on Civic B.C., at the TRU Job Fair, and on social media, the community came through.

“We struggled a little bit this year to get staffing but they came out of the woodwork on D-Day so to speak,” Dyck says. “The pool is being filled and staff are getting it all ready to go.

“We’re excited to be opening, and it will be the second year we’ve had the hot tub open. I think the community is really looking forward to being able to access the pool.”

Dyck says the pool needs five lifeguards to operate, and that many of their longtime lifeguards have been doing it as a summer job during university. With several of them now graduating and moving on with their lives, the village was worried they wouldn’t be able to staff the pool.

However, several of these older lifeguards have agreed to come back on a part-time basis and help train some new guards. Dyck says that as long as you’re a strong swimmer, Ashcroft is willing to help pay the cost for people to become a certified lifeguard.

“We just try to incentivize it a little bit. Our guards are all local,” Dyck notes. “In order to be a junior lifeguard you have to have your Bronze Cross, Bronze Medallion, and your first aid certificate. To be a fully licensed lifeguard you have to have your National Life Guard Certification.”

Dyck says that over the summer their head lifeguard will be running courses to give aspiring lifeguards their Bronze Cross and Bronze Medallion. She encourages anyone interested in becoming a lifeguard to reach out to the village office at (250) 453-9161.

“We hope that three or four kids will take this class and work towards their certification so that as these other people move on with their careers we will have that next set moving into those positions in the following years,” Dyck says.

The Ashcroft swimming pool will be open Tuesday to Sunday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. starting June 1. Dyck says that on June 22 the village will be hosting a community barbecue at the pool park, with free public swimming from noon to 3 p.m.