An actual lifeguard rescue of a kid in August 2010, taken by Annie Lane.
The starter gun will go off at 6pm, today, Thursday, August 6th – right on the beach at Ocean Beach. It’s all because OB is the site of the annual memorial San Diego Lifeguard Relay – named after Ronald B. Trenton, a former lifeguard, lost in a plane crash at sea.
The competition relay event will be open to the public and will be held smack in the middle of the beach, just north of the OB Pier.
The rescue skills of the city-wide lifeguards will be on display as they will be competing against each other and organized in the 4 different districts. The lifeguard districts are divided up geographically: OB is in the Southern District; Mission and Pacific Beaches are in the Central District; La Jolla beaches make up the Northern District; and the fourth district is the Boating Safety Unit, including Mission Bay.
Photo by Annie Lane.
If you’ll in the water and in trouble, you’d want the best skilled lifeguards rescuing you, so this relay competition is supposed to motivate lifeguards to fine tune their skills and physical abilities.
Different rescue techniques used in ocean rescues will be exercised in 12 legs, which include swimming, paddle boarding, running, and landline rescue. The relays also are supposed to foster “camaraderie and esprit de corps among lifeguards from different Districts” – not to mention some competitive feelings between the different residents of the communities within those districts. Hey?
And this public exhibition of lifeguard skills are obviously a good time to showcase the various rescue techniques to the communities.
What with all the cliff rescues and savings of people on the beach, OB has special needs for its lifeguards and gives them special honor and respect. (See this article and look at inside the top of the lifeguard tower.)
Possibly – just possibly – it’s also a way for lifeguards to remind their patrons (the politicos and the bureaucracy) that their medical needs ought to match those of other first responders. Just possibly.
Ron Trenton was a veteran lifeguard and long time Northern District Team Captain, lost at sea while piloting his private plane from Catalina Island to San Diego in 1997.
News source: San Diego Community News Group
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