Carowinds looking to fill 75 lifeguard positions ahead of water park opening

CHARLOTTE — Amid an ongoing lifeguard shortage, Carowinds is looking to hire enough staff before the grand opening of its Carolina Harbor Waterpark.

For the first time since the pandemic, Carowinds officials said they are expecting 2022 to be a normal summer, which means it’s going to be very busy.

“We will definitely be going and it’s going to be busy because COVID isn’t over but people are tired of being in the house,” says park-goer Bianca Staggs.

Carowinds said the water parks are scheduled to open Friday. That opening was delayed last year due to a lifeguard shortage but it will not be the case this year.

The theme park told Channel 9 that it is nearly fully staffed but there are still 75 lifeguard positions that need to be filled.

“We’ve hired a couple of hundred, we’d like to have about 75 more. We’re working on that right now,” Dominic Macrone, the head of HR for Carowinds, said.

The park said it has been aggressively recruiting and wants prospects to know they don’t have to be certified.

“Anybody out there who is interested, you do not need to have previous experience. We’ll train you how to be a lifeguard. Just come out and apply,” Macrone said.

Carowinds said they hope they will be able to play catch up as the summer season goes along.

(WATCH BELOW: Carowinds Carolina Harbor water park opening day delayed due to ‘labor issues’)

Carowinds Carolina Harbor water park opening day delayed due to ‘labor issues’

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