VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — "It's really nice weather and we just thought we'd come spend time at the beach together," said beachgoer Serena Antoun.
Locals and visitors easily line the Oceanfront when temperatures get in the 90s.
Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service Chief Tom Gill expects large crowds this weekend.
Gill said swimmers in the resort area will notice 15 lifeguard stands spread out along the beachfront this weekend.
"A little bit of a change from prior years, but after last summer or last pre-summer when we saw over 60 rescues on the Sunday before Memorial Day, we thought maybe it’d be helpful to have a couple more people and it looks like the weather forecast is going to make that a really good plan for this weekend," Gill said.
Full-force staffing, with the number of stands in the dozens, go into effect on Memorial Day weekend, according to Gill.
"It's really nice that they're covering a lot of space," said Antoun.
At 175 lifeguards and supervisors, Gill told said they're in okay shape staffing-wise.
"We usually hit a little over 200. I'd like to see a bit more of an increase, but we're not in desperate level at this time," he said.
AAA Pool Services Vice President Jim Durkee said things are closer to normal now than this time last year.
"The lifeguard pool is a little shallow," he said. “We are always hiring, and we are always hiring for our lifeguard training program.”
They're staffed up at about 75%.
"We're not to where we need to be this year, but we're staffed enough that our first option, rather than closing a pool for the whole day, is going to be to reduce the hours or reduce the capacity of that pool for when we're short-staffed," Durkee added.
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation spokesperson Julie Braley said their centers are noticing a smaller number of applicants too.
"Unfortunately, we did have to reduce our pool hours at Seatack recently, at that recreation center. And we hope that we don't have to do that at any of the other centers. But we do need to continue hiring lifeguards. We have a pretty dire need right now," said Braley.
She mentioned parks & recreation pools stay busy year-round.
City leaders are offering 75% reimbursement of training and certification fees, if the lifeguard is hired and once they go through a probationary period.