A lifeguard chair on the beach.
Lifeguard shortages have devastated America's pools and beaches since 2020. It's not clear when the lifeguards will be back.

I spent my summer afternoons as a tween at my local public pool in Milwaukee with a gaggle of neighborhood kids. I was there for Marco Polo, water tag, and proudly modeling the matching purple nose plugs and goggles that I'd bought with my allowance. My girlfriends, a year or two older, were most interested in catching the eye of the male lifeguards.