The next time something grey with alarming teeth approaches you in the water, do not panic — it may be a 70-year-old lifeguard. Britain’s largest swimming pool operator is turning to pensioners to fill a national lifeguard shortage.
They may not look much like the actors in the new Baywatch film but the “Greywatch” brigade of experienced lifeguards aged 50 to more than 70 is growing fast.
“You don’t need to be body beautiful to save lives, nor do you need to be in your teens or twenties,” said Gerry Kendrick of Greenwich Leisure (GLL), which runs swimming pools and leisure facilities on behalf of local authorities.
GLL employs about 40 lifeguards older than 50, including David Hall, 74, of Witney, Oxfordshire, a swimming champion who is proof that lifesavers do not need to resemble David Hasselhoff.
What GLL describes as the “Baywatch effect” may be at least partly responsible for putting off potential applicants who shrink from the perception that they need to look fabulous in a tiny red swimming costume. “That is completely not what the job is about,” said Melanie Silverman of GLL.
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Baroness Altmann, the government’s former champion for older workers, welcomed the recruitment drive. “Age discrimination is rife, dangerous and damaging to the economy,” she said.
Lounging by a pool may sound the perfect job but applicants face a test that includes diving to the deepest part of a pool to retrieve a brick. Those who fail to resurface are unlikely to be offered the job.