A New Wave of Aspiring Lifeguards Hits the Beach

Fourteen-year-old Scott Bandler lies face-down in the sand, his body tense as he eagerly awaits the signal . . . “Go!”

He jumps up and runs as fast as he can, hurling himself toward his goal: a turquoise flag stuck in the sand about 20 yards away.

Scott takes a giant leap, landing in a pile of sand-caked bodies.

For this teenager, it beats watching television, playing video games or even sleeping in during summer vacation.

He isn’t alone. Scott is one of about 1,500 kids taking part in junior lifeguard programs this summer along Ventura County’s coast from Carpinteria to Leo Carrillo State Beach.

At Port Hueneme Beach Park, where the first session makes up the largest class in the program’s 13-year history with 105 kids, Scott and his fellow aspiring lifeguards recently spent the day practicing for a countywide junior lifeguard competition Friday in Carpinteria.

“It puts me on a schedule, which is the only way I can get up in the morning,” said Scott, who lives in Camarillo. “I enjoy the hard work and helping myself get in better shape.”

The fee-based lifeguard programs, which run three to five days a week for four weeks, teach 9- to 16-year-olds basic ocean safety and rescue techniques, strength, endurance and discipline, as well as introductory ocean ecology and, in some cases, surfing.

But, perhaps most important, being a junior guard gets them off the couch and away from the television to enjoy the summer outdoors.

“It’s fun to be at the beach all the time,” said Jonathan Grantham, 14, of Oxnard. “Most kids just stay home in the summer, eat and get fat.”

As lifeguard programs throughout Southern California become increasingly popular, attendance is skyrocketing, with many sessions booked months in advance. In some cases, hundreds of kids must be turned away.

Program leaders say the reasons are many.

“When I was a junior guard, there were 14 kids,” said Oxnard resident Katie Thomas, 20, who has been an instructor at Port Hueneme for five years. “I think parents want kids to be more conscious in the water. And kids from the inland areas are finding that it’s a great way to spend the summer at the beach.”

Carrie Johnson, program coordinator at San Buenaventura State Beach, said there is a certain allure to working with lifeguards.

“Lifeguards make excellent role models,” she said. “Also, the nature of the activity--surfing, body surfing and learning about ocean environment--is very appealing to all kids.”

In fact, the demand is so high in Port Hueneme that it has resulted in a shortage of lifeguards to patrol the beach. One adult guard is needed to supervise every 15 to 20 kids in the program, said head instructor Casey Graham. The city is holding a special lifeguard tryout Friday at the pier to recruit more adult guards.

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A day in the life of a junior lifeguard begins at 9:30 a.m. with check-in, followed by a morning workout of running, swimming, sit-ups and push-ups--the most difficult part of the day, the kids say.

But it is also one of the most rewarding aspects of the program, said Justin Tougas, 14, of Oxnard.

“My godmother pushed me into it--at first I didn’t want to because I didn’t want to work out,” he said. “But now I’ve built up my endurance and I can run farther, so I’m glad she made me do it.”

The kids’ safety is always a concern, which has been heightened by the news last week of a 14-year-old Brawley girl who collapsed and died while running on the shore of Huntington Beach in that city’s program.

“We definitely all heard about it, but I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” Graham said. “That’s totally a fluke. These kids dig in as hard as any athlete does. They can take a lot.”

After the workout is a one-hour lecture, which covers topics such as natural resources, beach ethics and basics of CPR, Graham said. After that is a one-hour free period for lunch and surfing, and from 1 to 2 p.m. there is a game, usually not lifeguard-related.

“It’s a kids camp kind of thing--mostly for fun,” Graham said.

That three-letter-word is a popular answer among the younger guards when asked what they like about the summer program.

“It’s really fun--you meet a lot of friends and learn a lot of stuff, like how to paddle,” said Jill McBarron, 9, of Oxnard.

“I like playing with friends and playing in the sand,” piped Cami McCoppin, 10, also of Oxnard.

Many of the kids said they have always wanted to be lifeguards, including Kelsea Smith, 10, of Camarillo, who said she was enamored with the profession after a red-suited hero saved her from drowning in a rip current when she was younger.

As she recounted her story, the 12 bright-eyed and sandy-faced young girls who surrounded her demonstrated the program’s success in teaching them about the dangers of the ocean.

“If you get caught in a rip current, first of all you stay calm,” said 9-year-old Chloe Klein confidently.

“Then you wait until the water stops pulling you and you swim to the side,” added Emily Rubin, 8.

“It’s scary,” said Lacey Nickols, 11, “but you kind of have to tell yourself what to do and think things through.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Junior Lifeguard Programs

PORT HUENEME

Number of youngsters: 105

Next session: July 24-Aug. 18

Room available: yes

Call: 986-6542

SAN BUENAVENTURA STATE BEACH

Number of youngsters: 550

Next session: Sold out

Call: 648-3321 in the spring; program fills up by the beginning of June.

LEO CARRILLO

Number of youngsters: 400

Next session: Aug. 2-30

Room available: yes

Call: (310) 457-5775

SILVER STRAND

Number of youngsters: 65-child limit per class

Next session: July 24-Aug. 18

Room available: yes

Call: 382-3007

CARPINTERIA CITY BEACH

Number of youngsters: More than 100

Next session: Next summer

Call: 684-5405