ONTARIO COUNTY, N.Y. — Looking for a job as a lifeguard this summer? Well Ontario County is using funds from a New York State program that will allow teens and young adults to get reimbursed for the costs of lifeguard certification and training.

The county is using funds from the program “SWIMS,” which stands for Statewide Investment in More Swimming.

Their goal is to help fill lifeguard positions at municipal pools and beaches across the county and to help teens and young adults be able to take advantage of these openings by eliminating this barrier of the costs of required training and certification.

“So this provides the funding and hopefully provides the gateway for somebody who’s kind of been thinking about it, but the cost is a problem or I don’t know how to do it,” said Bill Wright, commissioner of the Ontario County Department of Public Works.

This program is not only for people new to lifeguarding. Wright says anyone who was trained last year can still participate by showing him their receipt from their training and get them reimbursed.

Wright says the program started last year, so he’s hoping there will be more awareness of it going into this season.

“This is an opportunity for us to both promote the program, promote lifeguarding, but also help with the cost,” said Wright.

Deep Run Park, Onanda Park, Kershaw Park and Sandy Bottom Park all have opening lifeguard positions. There are also openings through the Town of Victor and Village of Naples recreation programs.

Some of the positions open across multiple municipalities include lifeguard, senior lifeguard and aquatics supervisor. All job listings are posted on the Ontario County website. Click here to see the full list of open positions.

People interested in applying must be at least 15 years old and have valid CPR and lifeguard certifications at the time of hiring.

To learn more about the SWIMS program, contact the Ontario County Department of Public Works at 585-396-4000.