Lifeguard reunion expected to draw up to 300

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- It was a hot August day back in the early 1960s

when 35,000 beachgoers flocked to Huntington City Beach unaware of the

ocean’s fury. Strong rip currents and waves up to 8 feet tall created a

life-threatening situation for 70 people who came dangerously close to

being swept out to sea.

Lifeguard Capt. Max Bowman orchestrated one of the largest ocean

rescues in Surf City’s history by leading a crew of young lifeguards in a

daring rescue effort to save all 70 victims.

“It was one of those particular rescues that doesn’t [usually] happen

in one’s career,” said Bowman, a 64-year-old Huntington Beach resident

who began his career as a seasonal lifeguard and retired as the city’s

director of community services.

Stories of heroism, such as Bowman’s, will be exchanged this weekend

at the Huntington Beach Surf Life Saving Assn. Lifeguard Reunion 2000,

held Friday to Sunday at the Moorhouse Lifeguard Headquarters at the city

beach. The reunion, which will bring together former and current,

seasonal and permanent lifeguards, will also include events such as pier

jumps, Frisbee golf, surfing, volleyball and dancing.

“I’m looking forward to [the reunion] because it is one of those

unique [opportunities] for young lifeguards to share stories with older

guards,” said Mike Bartlett, a city marine safety officer and one of the

reunion’s organizers.

The reunion is expected to draw up to 300 lifeguards, some from as far

back as the 1940s, he said. Bartlett said reunions are usually held once

every five years, but there has not been one since 1993 because of other

projects, such as building the new Tower Zero, and challenges with

tracking people down and scheduling. The first reunion was held in 1987.

A lot has changed for lifeguards over the years, including training

and the equipment they use. For example, lifeguards must now fulfill more

training hours before receiving their certification, Bartlett said, and

the Heimlich maneuver is administered to choking victims instead of

hitting the victim in the back.

In addition, lifeguards in the 1940s and 1950s only had access to

simple equipment, such as boats and flotation buoys. But today, victims

are being pull out of the water with personal water crafts, and those

suffering from heart problems and cardiac arrest can be revived with an

automatic defibrillator.

Modern lifeguards have access to high-tech telescopes that allow them

to see the expression on a swimmer’s face several miles away, as well as

locate strong rip currents. Also, Bartlett said modern equipment, such as

large public-address systems, allow lifeguards to focus more on warnings

and precautionary measures.

In the past, lifeguards focused their efforts on reacting to a rescue

rather than prevention, Bartlett said.

Bowman said that better equipment would have allowed lifeguards to

warn more people on that fateful August day about the strong rip

currents.

But despite the changes, Bartlett said every lifeguard’s goal to be

the beach-going public’s front-line protection has remained the same.

Lifeguards “take training, team concept, camaraderie as a fraternal

concepts with them until they die,” Bartlett said. “And hence the name

lifeguards for life.”

FYI

WHAT: Huntington Beach Surf Life Saving Assn. Lifeguard Reunion 2000

WHEN: Friday to Sunday

WHERE: Moorhouse Lifeguard Headquarters, 103 Pacific Coast Highway,

Huntington Beach

CALL: (714) 536-5281 or visit https://www.hblifeguard.com