It has been dry, predominantly warm and sunny for weeks. Good news for the outdoor swimming pools, which are experiencing a top year.
Many pools are now reaching visitor numbers that they would normally see over an entire season. And that's even before the holiday has started. At De Hoge Vier pool in Winsum, there have already been more visitors than in the past two seasons. 'And this year we opened two weeks later,' adds Arie-Geert Timmers.
Extra staff
Due to the busy period, the pools need more staff. In Scheemda, they work a lot with volunteers: 'The kiosk and ticket office need extra staffing and we patrol the grounds more often. It's difficult to find people, but we manage.' In Leek, extra staff are also brought in: 'Now we place four or five people in a spot where normally there would be two. There's a clear peak between 12:30 and 16:30. You have to respond to that.'
Lifeguards
To ensure safety, more lifeguards are sometimes deployed. The approach varies: 'For us, they are paid staff that we call in through the council,' we hear in Scheemda. 'Fortunately, there are still enough of them.' In Grijpskerk, they work with a fixed pool of five lifeguards: 'Every day we have at least two, and if necessary, we call in a third,' says Astrid Smit from De Griffioen. She also mentions that finding trained staff is not a given: 'Everyone is asking for them, including indoor pools, and it is very seasonal. But we have managed again this year.'
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