Don Cantrell: The Bells still ring

Don Cantrell

Rex Bell, one of the Pilot Sports Hall of Famers, was back in the

limelight this summer after saving a man’s life off the coast of an

island in Hawaii.

Bell, a former Newport Beach lifeguard and one-time All-CIF diver for

Harbor High, was on a week’s vacation in June on Kauai Island with a

companion when cries of help came their way from about 50 yards away down

the beach.

After moving down the shore, Bell, 66, who remains in excellent

physical condition, listened to the victim’s wife yelling from a distance

off shore. She said her husband, who couldn’t swim, was drowning.

As Bell swam their way, he soon realized what had happened. They had

stepped into deeper water and a riptide was moving them in different

directions. Out of lifeguard experience, Bell knew he was confronting a

dangerous situation.

The 23-year-old man, who, coincidentally, was from Newport Beach, was

underwater and struggling in a white whirl of foamy water. Bell could

only look for the top of his head underwater as the tide kept carrying

them further out.

At different points, Bell had to stay underwater and keep pushing the

victim upward so he could breathe.

Within 15 minutes, Bell felt blessed because two other males, one with

a surfboard, came his way. The board would help him pull the victim to

safety. By that time, his companion, Joann Britton of Costa Mesa, was

also there moving into position to help.

Bell said, “We were all exhausted on the beach, but tried to pump

water out of the victim before laying down to rest.”

The experience was nothing new to Bell, who said it was a familiar

task in his early Newport days.

His brother, Jack Bell, 68, another former All-CIF diver, was

astonished by his brother’s efforts. He said, “You know, to make a rescue

like that would kill most people our age. He sure has a lot of guts.”

The Bells, who have grown up with varied water sports, have a

memorable past with Hawaii. Jack was a top athlete on one championship

outrigger rowing team once on the Island.

During that time, Jack came across a grand experience when he came to

meet the great surfer Duke Kahanamoku.

The Duke, who once surfed with noted coach Al Irwin off Newport in the

early ‘30s, invited Jack to rest under the palm and talk.

Jack was well aware of Duke’s past history and recalled that he

represented the United States as a swimmer in the 1912 Olympics, winning

a gold and silver.

Interesting to note that many Australians fondly remember the Duke as

one who came to the Land Down Under several times to teach them how to

surf in an artful way. In fact, they, in time, had a statue made of him

and placed it on he rocks above a place called Freshwater, near Sydney.

“We had a great talk that day on the beach,” Jack said, “and I was

astonished by his knowledge of the history in water sports.”

The Duke died in 1968.

When one reflects back on the superb history for the Bell brothers in

water sports, it is surprising to learn that they were born in Texas.

They didn’t come to California until they were near junior high school

age.

The family settled in Costa Mesa where their father was a popular

market manager, but came to realize the water sports world was not open

to them unless they figured out how to travel to big pools in Long Beach

and Huntington Beach. At that time, there were no pools in Costa Mesa or

Newport Beach.

In fact, Harbor High did not have a pool until the 1949-50 school

year, which was Jack’s senior year, two seasons ahead of Rex. Irwin was

the school’s swimming and diving coach. Irwin was a swimmer at Newport in

the early ‘30s.

It was also a time for coincidental happenings. The Bells would also

become outstanding football stars at Newport in 1949 and 1951. Irwin was

a great grid star at Newport for four years, graduating in 1936.