Lifeguard Graner: Surf Is Her Turf

Holding a paddleboard twice her size over her head as she headed for the surf at Manhattan Beach, Diane Graner could easily be mistaken for just another pretty face at the beach, but she is more than that.

Graner, who works as a county lifeguard, is considered the world’s top female rough-water swimmer and is among the best in events that include rowing and paddling.

“You look at her . . . this woman who is soft and feminine and not a tomboy, and you (realize) she must have a heart the size of a lion to do as well as she does,” said Steve Wood, who also is a county lifeguard and sometime rough-water teammate of Graner.

People who have watched Graner compete said she is tough, but not overly muscular.

“I consider myself lucky when people say I don’t look like a swimmer,” Graner said.

Graner, 26, was a record-setting swimmer at St. Bernard High and UCLA. She will be competing in the Professional Surf Lifesaving Assn. Ocean Festival Series, which holds its opener June 23 at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Wood said that Graner consistently defeats bigger, stronger men in ocean swims. Many of the events on the rough-water circuits evolved from lifesaving techniques, which Graner said gives her an advantage.

“In the water weight doesn’t matter,” she said. “You have to be sharp in a rescue. You keep your eye on the person you are saving and keep yourself aware.”

Said PSLA founder Scott Hubbell: “Her expertise in the water as a lifeguard and her understanding of ocean currents, coupled with the fact that she is a strong swimmer, makes her a strong competitor.”

Graner, who also coaches the women’s swim team at Culver City High, disdains weightlifting, preferring to run “three to four miles a day, three or four times a week.”

“In the old days swimmers were big and buff and not very cute,” she said. “Now, I stress that you must stay lean. I still lift weights some, but I don’t stress bulk. It’s important to stay high and strong in the water.”

A 10-event All-American at UCLA, Graner specialized in the backstroke, an event in which she set two school records. She went to the Olympic trials in 1984 and ‘88, failing to qualify both times, and returned to the beach to work as a lifeguard, where she became successful in various ocean sport circuits.

Obscure as they might be to beachgoers, ocean competitions are becoming increasingly popular with lifeguards and rough-water swimmers worldwide. Graner will compete in Germany and Japan in August and last year she competed in Australia and New Zealand.

“It’s not just the competition but the exchange of ideas that make the trips worthwhile,” she said.

In Australia, dory competitions are popular. Graner points to a poster on the wall of the lifeguard headquarters, which shows a doryman struggling against a churning sea.

“They use them to make a lot of rescues, where as we use (orange) cans to pull a victim through the surf,” she said. “They have a lot more drownings there. The waves are really big and break further out than here.”

Graner is one of six children, all of whom have been or still are lifeguards. She pointed out that ocean sport competitions require stamina, endurance and discipline.

“It’s definitely a burnout sport if your coach and parents don’t make it fun for you,” she said.

Graner has been competing in ocean events since she graduated from St. Bernard in 1982. She credits her success to her early years in a junior lifeguard program.

“That taught me about the surf,” she said.

Although she grew up in Playa del Rey, Graner considers Manhattan Beach home.

“This is my beach,” she said. “People who come here generally respect the beach; it’s a different crowd.”

Graner said lifeguards are so protective of the beaches that they often think of it as their back yard.

“We’re a casual group of people, that’s true,” she said. “But what disgusts us is when people don’t respect the beach and leave trash all over. You can tell the locals here from others.”

Hundreds of photos of Graner and her teammates hang on the walls of the lifeguard headquarters, where four-wheel-drive vehicles and rescue equipment are stored. Graner delights in pointing out some of her favorite photos from international trips.

Graner, who plans to return to UCLA in the fall to get a master’s in education, reflected on the good times she has had.

“I haven’t made a lot of money,” she said. “But I have been all over the world. I work enough to get just enough money to get by and then I go. I can’t complain. I know it will have to give sometime, but until then. . .”

Two women dressed in beach attire and pushing baby strollers on the Strand caught Graner’s attention.

“Hopefully, someday, that will be me,” she said. “Pushing my kids along here wearing next to nothing.”

She smiled and when asked, couldn’t say when that might be.