This Lifeguard Contest Is No Day at the Beach

Considering that American Tim Gair was one of the last ones to cross the finish line Sunday at the World Oceanman contest, his spirits were, nevertheless, cheerful.

Gair, 23, a lifeguard from Manhattan Beach, is the lone American man on the six-stop Foster World Oceanman Series. He finished in 27th place in a 30-man field at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point.

“This competition is on a whole new level,” Gair said. “I’ve done plenty of Ironman competitions, but this is by far a lot harder. It’s intense.”

Nikki Hudson of Santa Monica, an alternate for American Heidi Hannenian, who couldn’t compete because of a shoulder injury, finished last in the women’s event.

“This is the first one I’ve ever done,” Hudson said. “But I feel good I was able to finish. It’s pretty tough. Especially the running.”

Humble words from someone who was the U.S. Ironman champion in 1996.

“You really can’t appreciate how difficult this race is. Especially when the waves are big and you have to get outside,” Gair said. “I’ve been in some hard Ironman contests, but this one is way hard.”

Sunday’s competition was the fourth stop of the series. The event consists of two circuits on a designated course and features running, swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding.

“The events in this contest, are all the things a beach lifeguard needs to do on the job,” said Kane Huessner, 21, of Australia, who won the men’s event in 49 minutes 20 seconds. “In Australia, the kids start early down there, so this kind of competition isn’t new.”

The tour started in New Zealand in May then went to Bali and Queensland, Australia. The next stop is Hawaii and concludes in Sydney, Australia.

Rob Nelson, one of the contest organizers, said the World Oceanman Series is the first time this competition has been taken to the international community. In Sunday’s contest, in addition to Australia and the United States, competitors came from New Zealand, Great Britain, Sweden, South Africa, Germany, Italy and Japan.

“There are about 25 million lifeguards in the world. That’s according to the latest figures of International Life Saving [organization],” Nelson said.

As far as Sunday’s race, it can only be described as grueling.

“The running is the hard part for me,” said Huessner, who is ranked third on the tour. “I’m pretty good in the water, but sometimes, when the surf is high, it can be really be tough to get outside the break.”

And sometimes, coming in can also be hard . . . or even dangerous.

Kim Tunnell of New Zealand, the women’s winner, had to be taken to the hospital after being slammed into the sand when she came in on her paddleboard on the last leg of the race.

Tunnell was taken to South Coast Medical Center in Laguna Beach for observation. “She hit the sand pretty hard and she was complaining of some pain in her neck,” Nelson said. “We decided to take her to the hospital strictly as a precautionary measure.”