FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION : Lifeguards Keep the Holiday Crowd Safe and Sane

Lifeguard Mary Hawblitzel burst out of her tower Wednesday on Ventura State Beach, sprinted to the water’s edge and lunged into the waves to rescue an 18-year-old caught in a rip current.

Minutes later, Hawblitzel--a powerful swimmer--was dragging the scared teen-ager to safety.

“He was pretty nervous,” she said of the young man, who had been swept about 300 feet from shore. “He kept saying, ‘I’m going to die. I’m going to die.’ ”

It was one of several emergencies on Ventura County beaches on the Fourth of July. But thanks to the 45 lifeguards on duty in the county, no one had been seriously injured by early evening.

“I kind of expected this on the Fourth,” said Hawblitzel, 22. “People come out, have a good time and get themselves in situations they can’t handle.”

Down the beach at lifeguard headquarters, supervisors Kirk Sturm, 35, and Jerry Weil, 37, fielded call after call--dispatching lifeguards to help dispose of some unexploded fireworks from an early morning celebration, to warn away jet-skiers coming dangerously close to sunbathers and to help several mothers locate their missing children.

“There’s really a lot more to lifeguarding than meets the eye,” said Weil, one of 118 state, county and city lifeguards who patrol Ventura County beaches.

State lifeguards patrol nine beaches in the county, from the Ventura River Group Camp to Leo Carrillo State Beach. County lifeguards are responsible for the Silver Strand Beach, about a mile north of Channel Islands Harbor; the Hollywood Beach, about a mile south of the harbor, and the beach inside the harbor. The city of Port Hueneme is the only municipality with its own lifeguard program, patrolling a mile of shoreline in the small city.

Lifeguarding has its obvious benefits, but the job has become more difficult over the years, said Steve White, lifeguard supervisor for the state’s Channel Coast District, which covers six beaches from McGrath State Beach to Carpinteria State Beach.

While Ventura County’s population has burgeoned in the past decade, its lifeguard corps has grown only slightly. Only the state’s Santa Monica Mountains District, which governs the area between Point Mugu and El Matador State Beach, has significantly increased its number of lifeguards. It has added 28 people since 1980, said Boe Stevens, a lifeguard supervisor in the district.

More people mean more opportunities for injury. Plus, sports such as jet-skiing and wind surfing have made the ocean more treacherous, White said.

The county’s lifeguards, White said, have tried to cut down on accidents by warning people before they put themselves in danger. And the preventive measures seem to be paying off.

In 1980, there were 154 rescues in the state’s Channel Coast District, he said. In 1989, there were 170 rescues and, as of June 1, there were 30.

To achieve this safety record, lifeguards in the district had to warn people away from dangerous activities 32,096 times last year. This year, as of June 1--before the busy beach season--they have interceded 2,818 times, he said.

“We learn how to interpret rules to people, how to tell them no and leave them with a smile,” said Stevens, a lifeguard supervisor in the Santa Monica Mountains District.

If people refuse to follow rules, six state lifeguards in the county are licensed peace officers who carry guns and have the authority to make arrests. Lifeguards in the Channel Coast District make between five and 10 arrests each year for such crimes as auto theft, drunk driving and battery.

The constant need to be on guard for any type of emergency makes lifeguarding an interesting but very stressful way to make a living, White said.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” White said. “You stay late when you need to and you go home when you can.”

But the perquisites of the job--gazing out at blue sky, rolling waves and dolphins that frequently frolic off the coastline--more than make up for the drawbacks, lifeguards attest, making competition fierce for the few available spots each year.

About 30 people applied for seven positions last year in the Santa Monica Mountains District, Stevens said. And about 100 people applied for six positions with the Channel Coast District in 1989, White said.

The field was cut during a series of rigorous tests: a 1,000-yard ocean swim that must be completed within 20 minutes, an 800-yard run-swim-run over water and sand that must be finished in 10 minutes and an oral interview. The candidates who passed those hurdles were sent to a camp in Huntington Beach for 60 hours of training. The top-scoring applicants there were chosen for the jobs.

Competition for jobs with the county and Port Hueneme is not as stiff. One reason, officials from those jurisdictions said, is that the state pays more.

State lifeguards start out making $9.53 an hour and can work up to $11.02 per hour in temporary jobs. If they become permanent lifeguards, they start at $27,792 and top out around $36,700.

County lifeguards, all of whom are seasonal, make between $8.38 and $10.11 an hour, and Port Hueneme pays its guards between $7.25 and $15.25, depending on their experience level.

Once they become lifeguards, few people want to give it up.

Casey Culp, 17, is enjoying his second season of lifeguarding so much that he is considering making it a career. “I’ve just fallen in love with it,” said Culp, a state lifeguard.

Jim Harmon, 33, could not bear the thought of resigning his job as a state lifeguard even after he passed the State Bar exam and began practicing law in March, 1989. Harmon began lifeguarding on Ventura State Beach in 1974 and worked full time through law school at Ventura College of Law.

During weekdays Harmon practices family law. And on weekends he dons red trunks and heads to the beach.

“I don’t do it for money as much as to keep my toes in the sand,” Harmon said. “I would work even if I didn’t get paid.”