The DUmmies can justify it all they want to their own little echo chamber. To the rest of the country, it looks outrageous. My brother and sister were lifeguards in high school, being on the swim team and such. The kiddoes were in perfectly good hands. Minimum wage.
Incidentally, the lifeguards on Lake Ontario are the worst bunch of nazis you've ever seen. The permissible swim area is the size of a postage stamp, and you'd better just stand there up to your calves and be happy about it. A list of rules as long as the tax code. They were even haranging a fat girl, because she wanted to go in the water in full coverage. "No. Swimsuits only. Otherwise, if we try to save you, your clothes are too heavy." She left in tears.