FOR THE KIDS : Summer Classes on Ocean Safety Draw Youths in Waves : Junior lifeguard programs offer numerous activities to put young swimmers at ease in the surf.

When your kid clamors to go swimming at the beach, does the thought riptide spring to mind and make your stomach jump?

Think junior lifeguard instead. The California Parks and Recreation Department and the city of Port Hueneme offer intensive summer beach safety courses.

The programs teach rescue techniques, along with a slew of other things any beach-crazy kid should know: first aid, CPR, physical fitness, ocean ecology, and even surfing.

“The goal is to make kids ocean-safe,” said Carrie Whitman, a lifeguard instructor for the state’s program. “Then, if they’re out there goofing around and they see someone in trouble, they can help.”

Some not only become better ocean swimmers, but also go on to become lifeguards a few years later, she said. But that’s not necessarily the goal. Parents like the program because they worry less about letting their children swim or surf at the beach.

The state’s program, in existence for some 20 years, operates out of San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura. The four-week sessions run Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first session begins Monday, and the second on Aug. 1. The cost is $220.

This is for kids, 9 to 15 years old, and they have to know how to swim 100 yards, do 10 yards under water and tread water for five minutes. Those who missed the pool test last week can be tested on the first day of the session at the beach.

About 200 children sign up for each session. Each day starts out with an hour of exercise that includes a mile or so run and a swim between two buoys.

“A lot of them swim great in a pool, but in ocean waves its--aah!” Whitman said. On the last day of the session, they swim around the Ventura Pier.

During the day, the kids learn how to spot a riptide and how to swim out of one if they get caught. They learn the basics of rescue--how to swim out to a drowning victim using a surf board or a foam buoy--and first aid.

“We hear stories about kids who have been in the program and how they were surfing and saw someone in trouble and rescued them,” Whitman said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

It’s not all serious stuff. The kids also get a taste of surfing, body surfing, windsurfing and snorkeling.

Last year, the state began offering an afternoon program to students in the morning session who haven’t had quite enough. It’s mostly for those who are nuts about surfing or want to learn. It runs from 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays, and the four-week session costs $200.

In Port Hueneme, the program is much the same as the one in Ventura. But the sessions are three weeks long and run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays at the pier. The first session began this week, the second one starts July 11, and the last one is Aug. 1. The cost is $130.

Those in the program learn lifesaving techniques, first aid and CPR, along with surfing, body surfing and a few tidbits about the ocean. But there is one major difference.

“Port Hueneme is a south-facing beach, so the surf is bigger,” said Doug Miser, the junior lifeguard coordinator. “They get a lot of experience in the water.”

Kids must be at least 9 years old and they must be competent swimmers, although ocean experience is not required. A swim test is given the first day of each session.

“We’re not looking for Olympic athletes,” Miser said. “We’re looking for eagerness, a willingness to get into the water. It’s an entirely different environment--pool swimming and ocean swimming. We teach them to be confident in the ocean.”

Usually, 80 kids go through each session, and if vacation schedules conflict, they can sign up in the second week, he said. Some kids go through the program more than once. It’s a good step toward becoming a lifeguard, he said, and this year two of the city’s lifeguards are graduates of the program.

The kids have fun, as well as learn beach safety. “We have a lot of play time,” he said. “It’s not paramilitary.”

Details

* WHAT: Junior lifeguard programs.

* WHERE: California Parks and Recreation Department’s program is at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura. Port Hueneme’s program is at the city’s pier.

* WHEN: The first session of the state’s program begins Monday. Kids can sign up on the first day or at lifeguard headquarters at the state beach (tower is located near Harbor Boulevard and Vista del Mar). The first session of Port Hueneme’s program began this week. Second session begins July 11. Kids can sign up at the pier on the first day of each session.

* FYI: For the state program, call 643-5003; for Port Hueneme, 986-6555.