NEWPORT BEACH : Group of Students Rescued From Surf

About 15 students among a group visiting Newport Beach for an annual school picnic were rescued from the surf Tuesday after being pulled down by undercurrents.

About 100 students from the Lynwood Adventist Academy had gathered on the beach east of Newport Pier, and some of the youths had waded out about 50 yards into the surf when they ran into trouble, their principal, J. P. Willis, said.

“They had some free time to walk the beach, and a number of them walked into the water when the riptide pulled them out,” Willis said. “A couple of them then tried to help the other students in the rescue . . . though there were some still too far out, when the lifeguards showed up and completed the rescue.”

Gordon Reed, one of the lifeguards on the scene at about 1:30 p.m., said about 15 students were pulled from the water. Nine were rescued by lifeguards; friends helped the rest.

“A lot of them made it in on their own, but just barely,” Reed said, adding that the surf of 2 to 4 feet was enough to generate moderate rip currents. “They couldn’t swim, or at least were poor swimmers . . . and when you can’t swim, any day is a bad day.”

David Hill, 14, used to think that he was an average swimmer. But after Tuesday, he’s not so sure.

“I sure learned,” Hill said as he left Hoag Hospital here, where he and three other students were taken. “I was only up to my chest, but then the undercurrent got me.”

Seventeen-year-old Brigid Johnson agreed.

“We were all going out to see how far we could go, then all of a sudden a wave came and I couldn’t feel the bottom anymore,” Johnson said.

Treated and released from Hoag were Hill, Teresa Duncan, 15, and Valicia Simpson, 16. Timothy Williams, 16, remained in stable condition and was transferred to Kaiser Permanente in Harbor City.

The students and the principal said that one student was particularly helpful in the rescue. Jabari Chapman, a 17-year-old senior at the school, assisted a number of the students in getting out of the water.

Chapman said he pulled three girls and one boy from the water, and then helped a lifeguard with another. But, he said, it wasn’t so much his swimming ability as his height, 6 feet, 3 inches, that allowed him to assist.

“I was struggling too and trying to reach the bottom,” he said. “Next time, I’ll take a life jacket out.”