Ocean Turns Mean Off Newport

The white T-shirt caught lifeguard Arn Van Dyke’s eye as he made his last round of the day along the jetties that jut seaward from Newport Beach.

“I could see the guy on the rocks and he was getting nailed by the waves,” said Van Dyke, 34, an 11-year veteran. By the time Van Dyke reached the man, what he thought was going to be a single rescue became something else entirely.

In all, five people had been swept out along the 56th Street jetty by a rip current during what officials described as relatively calm conditions. Three of the swimmers were able to pull themselves to safety on the jetty. But two women were minutes from drowning, forcing Van Dyke to clutch both victims against his rescue float and swim them to shore.

“They’re very lucky,” he said Thursday, adding that it was pure chance that he hadn’t finished his rounds 10 minutes sooner. “Timing is everything.”

The episode was the latest in a series of serious run-ins with rip currents along Newport Beach this season.

While Newport Beach fire officials say there is nothing unusual about the beaches this year, they are at a loss to explain why so many people have had so many problems with the ocean swells and rip currents.

In Wednesday’s rescue, which occurred about 7 p.m., conditions rated a green flag, which means swimmers need not take special precautions, said John Blauer, spokesman for the Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department. However, no flag was posted because lifeguards were off-duty, he said.

“It looks like people are coming down and not swimming near lifeguard towers or are going in when they don’t know how to swim,” Blauer said. “People are not paying attention to what common sense is and what they really should be doing.”

Earlier this month, Willie Earl McFarland, 38, of San Bernardino drowned after he and three other people were caught in a rip current in the same area as Wednesday’s incident. The other three swimmers were able to reach safety. At the time, lifeguards had posted red flags, warning of dangerous conditions.

On May 27, another Newport Beach lifeguard plucked two Fontana children, ages 13 and 10, from the water after they were caught in a rip current near the Newport Pier just as lifeguards were warning swimmers of increasingly dangerous conditions.

A week earlier, Armando Briseno, 17, of Santa Ana drowned after being swept away by a rip current from near Newport Pier during light surf.

In the latest incident, Van Dyke spotted the white T-shirt, radioed for backup and began swimming along the jetty.

“Halfway out I noticed not only him on the rocks but some people helping him, trying to get him up higher,” he said. “Then I saw two heads [in the water]. All that was showing was their mouths.”

Van Dyke said one woman, later identified as Lee Nguyen, 19, of Rialto, was unconscious and slipping below the waves, while the other woman--Julien Tran, 18, of Highland--was semiconscious. Both were about 10 yards from the jetty.

Van Dyke said Tran was able to cling to his float as he lifted Nguyen from the water and onto the float. Then Van Dyke swam with the current around the end of the jetty and back to shore on the side sheltered from the waves, where other lifeguards were beginning to arrive.

By the time they reached shore, he said, Tran had recovered and Nguyen was beginning to come around.

“We got her up on the sand and applied oxygen and tried to get her to stay awake,” Van Dyke said.

Meanwhile, Van Dyke’s supervisor, Lt. Eric Bauer and other rescuers helped the other three victims in from the jetty. Two of the men were taken off the jetty on backboards as a precaution, officials said.

The two women were treated and released from Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. Two of the men were treated and released from Huntington Beach Hospital. They were identified as Peter Lam, 20, of Colton and Vo Bich, 19, whose hometown was unknown, Blauer said. The fifth man was not injured and was not identified, he said.

For his part, Van Dyke is glad he made his last round when he did.

“We’re very lucky,” he said.

Times correspondent Thuy-Doan Le contributed to this report.

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times