Waterlogged!

What they really want to do is jump off the Balboa Pier, a 30-foot free fall into the clear blue which more than one veteran described as a “totally rad” experience.

But that’s getting ahead of the game, kids. First, these Newport Beach junior lifeguards must endure drills. And more drills, running up and down in the sand, swimming way out in the water, arcing around that pier that juts out 900 feet from the shoreline like a big tease.

The 996 participants in the 14-year-old program, which costs $300 per person, range in age from 9 to 15. They compete Thursdays for eight weeks in various running and swimming events designed to get them in shape, while workshops address ocean and beach safety.