Renton swimming beaches and the Henry Moses Aquatic Center will open for their summer season this Saturday, June 21.

Approximately 20 lifeguards have been hired and the City of Renton will continue to hire more throughout the summer. This week, lifeguards were busy receiving general training on Red Cross certification, first aid and how to deal with bloodborne pathogens, all of those issues on land and in the water.

“A lot of it is just a refresher; we go through scenarios,” said Brandi Burke, recreation coordinator.

Burke is responsible for aquatics, health, wellness and outdoor recreation for the City of Renton.

“We kind of set the park up to simulate if an incident was to happen,” she said on Monday. “So all of those things we kind of go over during the week and then the normal guest service, customer service…”

Most of the lifeguards are college kids, originally from Renton, Kent and Tukwila and a few from California. All of the lifeguards for Kennydale Beach and Gene Coulon Memorial Beach are returning.

Added this year, is a new water feature toy for younger kids, complete with a slide. The toy is a nice addition for children, who are less than 48 inches tall, which is the requirement for the larger slides. Also new this year are lifejackets, which will be available at the center and both beaches for free.

“Previously our beaches and this facility, Henry Moses, did not have lifejackets available,” said Burke. “The bottom line is not everybody can afford to purchase a lifejacket. Everybody does deserve to be safe.”

Lifejackets aren’t required at the center or the beaches, but a quick swim test is given at the center to see if a lifejacket is necessary.

The Henry Moses Aquatic Center opens at 10 a.m., Saturday. The swimming beaches will be open from noon to 8 p.m., daily. The center has public swim times from noon to 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.