Many public swimming pools, including Mason City Aquatic Center, closed due to lifeguard certification issue

MASON CITY — Several public swimming pools are temporarily closed due to lifeguards not being properly certified. Those include the Mason City Aquatic Center as well as pools in Nora Springs, Manly and Hampton.

The certification issue came up during a recent American Red Cross audit and affect some lifeguards who were certified between June 2021 and June of this year. The Red Cross says the instructor who certified the lifeguards failed to deliver the class in accordance with all applicable lifeguard training requirements for certification by not providing an adequate number of hours of training.

Students who were taught by instructor Christina Coleman received emails on Thursday informing them of having their Red Cross Lifeguard Certificate revoked.

Lifeguards who need to be renewed by a certified instructor need between nine and ten hours of classes, while anyone who received certification as a new lifeguard will need the full 30 hours of training required.