FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Lifeguard Plunges Into Exchange

Lifeguard Todd Bartlett is about to take advantage of what he calls “the chance of a lifetime.”

Bartlett, 27, of Fountain Valley, will leave Sunday for a two-month educational exchange with the Auckland Surf Life Saving Assn. in New Zealand.

“I want to pursue a career in lifeguarding, and this is a perfect opportunity,” said Bartlett, a Cal State Fullerton graduate with a degree in speech communications.

When he returns home, Bartlett said, he will have earned an international certification in lifeguarding.

A Huntington Beach seasonal lifeguard for eight years, Bartlett was chosen to represent the California Surf Life Saving Assn. in the exchange program, founded in 1964.

Los Angeles County lifeguard Charlotte Smits Van Oyen, 24, will also participate.

Chris Brewster, lifeguard chief for San Diego and president of the California Surf Life Saving Assn., said that the international exchange program is invaluable.

“What we learn from the lifeguards are different innovations and new approaches that, in some cases, we have been able to employ to the tremendous benefit of the beach-going public,” Brewster said.

For instance, he said, the use of inflatable rescue boats was pioneered in Australia and New Zealand and is now widely used by lifeguards in this country.

“The mere exposure to the international life-saving scene is of tremendous value,” Brewster said.

Because the Surf Life Saving Assn. has limited resources for the exchange program, Bartlett found local sponsors to help pay for his trip.

A former president of the Cal State Fullerton intercollegiate surf team, Bartlett said he will take five surfboards with him and stay an extra month to visit and surf in Australia and Fiji. He plans to return in March.

“It’s a chance to share different avenues of rescue philosophies and different styles of lifeguarding,” Bartlett said of the exchange. “The idea is to go there and observe their training techniques like a sponge and bring everything home.”