Heroes: Orange County residents from lifeguards to nurses gave hope and touched others’ lives in 1989. : SEAL BEACH : Their Vigilance, Bravery Save a Lot of Lives

It was just after noon last Veterans Day when Seal Beach lifeguards Jeff Aldinger and Adam Summers first spotted the trouble that would keep their adrenaline pumping for the next 53 minutes.

At first, the problem was three surfers struggling against a sudden low tide at the mouth of the San Gabriel River. But as Aldinger and Summers worked to bring them in, the water level dropped nine feet.

The current, normally 3 to 5 m.p.h., increased to more than 10 m.p.h. in minutes.

Almost all of the surfers at the river’s mouth were beginners--and didn’t know that they were more likely to escape the pull of the current by swimming parallel to the shore rather than straight for the beach.

“Everything just blew open,” Aldinger said. “The current took out maybe 20 people all at once.” The situation went to Code 3, the highest level of emergency, and a Long Beach lifeguard boat was called to help rescue the 43 swimmers caught in the current.

Between them, Aldinger and Summers swam and walked 28 swimmers to shore, according to Chief of Lifeguards Tim Dorsey. The boat took aboard the remaining 15.

“We didn’t have a chance to think,” Aldinger said. “We didn’t stop working for almost an hour straight.”

Four first-time surfers from Massachusetts thought they were “goners,” Aldinger said, until the two men rescued them.

“It was hard work, but I was glad we were there just when we were needed. It’s a good feeling when you know you’ve helped, when you know the situation would have been worse if you weren’t there,” he said.

Dorsey said he has seen the water level drop that quickly where the river meets the ocean about once every five years.

Aldinger and Summers “were there when they were needed because they were vigilant,” Dorsey said. “They were not in the guardhouse taking it easy; they were out patrolling. They were out there just in case. It was their vigilance that allowed them to be in the perfect spot, just in time to help.”

“I have to admit that was a tough day,” Summers said. “But I wouldn’t say we were heroes. I’m out here to do that, and I enjoy it.”

Summers, 24, who has a degree in social science from UCLA, is a pre-law student at UC Irvine and a lifeguard who says the beach is his first love.

“I can’t think of any place else I’d rather be. My office is on the beach, I work in the open air, I watch the sun set every day.”

Aldinger, 26, grew up in Seal Beach and spent much of his youth on the area’s beaches. After high school, he got a degree in economics and “spent a few years in the business world” before becoming a lifeguard three years ago.

“I love being on the beach, being out in the open and working with people, feeling like I make a difference,” he said.