Wanna Be A Coney Island Lifeguard This Summer?

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Wanna Be A Coney Island Lifeguard This Summer?

December 22, 2011 by Tricia

Wanna spend your summer getting paid to get a great tan and sand between your toes on Coney Island’s Beach? If you’re a strong swimmer, the time to apply to be a New York City Parks lifeguard is now. The qualifying test for the 2012 summer season is being held through January 13 at Chelsea Recreation Center in Manhattan on weekdays at 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Additional sites and dates are listed on the “Become a Lifeguard” page of the New York City Parks Department’s website.

Swimmers who pass the test will be enrolled in the 40-hour Municipal Lifeguard Training Program and upon completion may be offered one of 1,200 jobs watching over New York City’s 20 million swimmers. First-year lifeguards earn a minimum of $13.57 per hour for a weekly salary of over $650.

Can you request Coney Island duty? A Parks spokesman tells ATZ that assignments are by seniority, but lifeguards may request a preferred or convenient location. Beach lifeguards must be able to swim 440 yards in 6 minutes and 40 seconds and must also complete a 300-yard ocean swim prior to receiving their assignment.

To qualify, you must:

— Be able to swim 50 yards in 35 seconds with proper form.
— Have a minimum of 20/30 vision in one eye and 20/40 in the other, without corrective lenses. Glasses and contact lenses
may not be worn during the eye exam.
— Be at least 16 years old when the position begins.

Oh, and it can’t hurt to memorize the lyrics to Blotto’s ’80s hit “I, I, I Wanna Be a Lifeguard…” According to the band’s official history, in 1980, “Blotto even had something most other bands didn’t at the time – a music video, thanks to the efforts of two SUNY students who filmed the band for a senior project. ‘I Wanna Be A Lifeguard’ was among the videos aired on MTV’s first broadcast day, and remained in heavy rotation for months.”