Did you know that lifeguards used to be as popular as movie stars back in the ’60’s? And did you know why a man named George Freeth is a legend for any Los Angeles lifeguard?
This and much more was discussed at the Winter Beach Symposium a meeting that brought marine experts from around California to Pepperdine University on Wednesday Jan. 14. Chair of the symposium was Dr. Karen Martin professor of biology.
The first speaker was Nick Steers a retired lifeguard. Steers started working in Santa Monica in 1965 when cars had manual sticks and lifeguards were sex symbols in the public eye despite their woolen red uniforms and old-school swimming suits.
Steers showed the evolution of life guarding in the past 40 years with references to the heroes of his profession. One of them was George Freeth a young man from Hawaii who became the first lifeguard in Venice Beach in 1905. Freeth was one of the first surfers as well as one of the first lifeguards on the first major lifeguard rescue in 1918 when a fishermen’s boat sank. Freeth’s rescue is responsible for the institution of modern life guarding. Freeth also invented a rope system that helped to drag drowning bathers back to the shore – the early model of today’s lifeguard buoys. He introduced the use of personal watercraft rides (PWCs) in the late ’60’s.
Another famous lifeguard was Nate Shargo who died last year at 96. Surfing competitions organized yearly in Hermosa Beach increased lifeguards’ star status.
“People used to think that a lifeguard was a guy sitting on the beach all day getting a tan and checking out the girls” Steers said.
But bay watching is a serious business. And it involves more than being a good swimmer. They drive modern rescue boats and PWC’s surf on multiple types of boards and need to be able to use resuscitation equipment better that George Clooney in the ER. Last year’s Lifeguard Academy accepted only 100 from more than 400 applicants and they’ve been trained on emergency medical techniques as well as riptide storm drain night pier and plane crash rescues. They were able to help during the Catalina plane crash in 1979 and showed their ability when a small one-engine plane crashed near the Malibu Pier last November.
The lifeguards are also sponsored by Ford which provides the signature yellow trucks – hybrid cars to preserve the environment. Staying green is a priority to Los Angeles County lifeguards.
“The beach is a beautiful place and we should preserve it that way” Steers said.
The meeting ended with the discussion about governance and future goals of the Beach Ecology Coalition (BCE) a new benefit organization in which Dr. Martin is involved.
The BCE works with park rangers and beach managers to preserve the beach as an ecosystem and Martin has personally worked on a program to preserve grunion eggs along with student Jennifer Sledge who is passionate about for the initiative.
“Our short-term is getting people talking about our organization so we are setting up workshops to reach out on the community Martin said.
The next workshop is scheduled for April 6, on the Pepperdine campus. All students are invited to participate. For more information, visit www.beachecology.org.