Surf smarts

Amy R. Spurgeon

NEWPORT BEACH -- A leisurely late-afternoon dip in the ocean last week

quickly turned into serious business when the largest swells of the

summer forced a junior lifeguard to put his skills to the test.

On Aug. 1, 11-year-old Russell Mycorn, a member of the Newport Beach

Junior Lifeguards, was dodging waves with three of his friends at Corona

del Mar State Beach.

One of the boys ventured out too far and started having trouble once

the sets began to peak.

“My friend thought we were going to die,” Russell said. “He was

panicking and crying. I gave him one of my fins and told him to kick as

hard as he could toward shore until I said stop. He was really scared.”

The rescued boy was the only one in the group who was not a junior

lifeguard. One of the other boys, 12-year-old junior lifeguard Kyle

McGhie of Newport Beach, said the lifeguard on duty that day gave them

the OK to enter the water.

However, the lifeguard went off duty shortly after 5 p.m. Soon after,

the fourth boy was overwhelmed by the massive surf.

“He didn’t know what precautions to take,” Kyle said. “It was pretty

freaky because the waves were pretty big.”

Russell, at 4 feet, 3 inches and 70 pounds, took the initiative and

swam to help his struggling friend. Floating in the cold water, he

removed and handed the boy one of his fins.

Fighting the head-high waves back to shore wasn’t easy, Russell said,

but he remained calm and remembered what he was taught in junior

lifeguards this summer.

“I learned to always stay with your victim; never leave them behind

and hold their hand when you go under the waves,” he said. “I told him,

‘Don’t worry. When we get in, we’re going to get you a towel and warm you

up.’ ”

And like any true hero, he kept his word.

It was Russell’s six years of swim lessons, participation in the

junior lifeguards program and a tender heart that provided him with the

skills to perform the save, said proud mother Suzanne Mycorn.

“It’s made him a hero,” she said.

Reenie Boyer, the coordinator of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard

program, said she is also proud of Russell.

“It’s pretty neat that he’s paying attention in class,” Boyer said.

“It’s the first junior lifeguard save reported to me in my 17 years here.

He just used common sense.”

The rescue helped prepare Russell for Thursday’s National Lifeguard

Championships in San Diego.

Russell, who wants to be a lifeguard in Hawaii when he gets older,

says the moral of the story is a simple one: don’t go out in conditions

you can’t handle.

And as for the boy who was rescued?

“When we got to shore he said, ‘Thanks Russ, next year I’m going to be

a junior lifeguard.’ ”