SOUTH LAGUNA : Swimmers Vie for Place in the Sun

“The trick to not letting the cold beat you is to insulate yourself from it,” said 20-year-old George Bonne as he generously slicked petroleum jelly over his body.

That was the conventional wisdom on Aliso Beach on Sunday morning, as most of the 54 aspiring lifeguards greased up in preparation for a grueling test of swimming and running. At stake was a summer in the sun.

“There’s definitely a glamour status” that comes with being a lifeguard, Bonne said, putting on his swimming cap and heading toward the water. “And getting paid to be in the sun and on the beach is not bad either.”

But first there’s the matter of passing the test.

So at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, while sea gulls glided over a near-empty Aliso Beach, Bonne and the others competed on the sand and in surf that was colder than the morning’s 60-degree temperature.

The test, a 1,200-yard, run-swim-run-swim-run race, was designed by U.S. Ocean Safety Inc. to measure the lifeguard hopeful’s stamina and endurance. U.S. Ocean Safety, a private corporation, contracts with the Environmental Management Agency of Orange County to provide lifeguard service to county beaches.

Forty-five candidates will be accepted into a 56-hour training course that is conducted according to United States Lifesaving Assn. standards. Those who are hired on as lifeguards will be paid $850 a month for full-time duties.

By the end of the race, which takes about 15 minutes, the 45 top contenders congratulated each other as they vigorously dried themselves with towels. Of the disappointed ones who were not accepted into the program Sunday, most said they will try again next year.

The race “was definitely tougher than it looks,” said a disappointed Christian Smith, 20, as he staggered out of the water without finishing and plopped onto the sand, shivering.

“I’m kinda disillusioned right now with the cold water and everything,” Smith said, staring forlornly at his counterparts who were racing toward the finish line. “But there’s always next year.”

At the other end of the beach, 18-year-old Dan Hancock was first to cross the finish line.

“It wasn’t that rough,” he said, cocking his head triumphantly in response to the congratulatory pat on the back by a lifeguard.

A player on the U.S. National Jr. Water Polo team, Hancock said he wants to be a lifeguard because it combines his interests in water sports and medicine.

And, of course, there’s the added benefit of “an office in the sun,” said Hancock. “Imagine going to your office and it’s on the beach in Southern California. Not too many people have that kind of a job.”