SPRING 2010 - VOL. 26, NO. 3

36 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 2 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 35 ALM EXECUTIVE T EAM

USLA Executive Board American Lifeguard Magazine Staff USLA Regional Presidents President Publisher/Editor New England B. Chris Brewster, San Diego, CA Mike Bartlett, Huntington Beach, CA Position Vacant [email protected] [email protected] Mid-Atlantic Vice-President Assistant Editors Ed Zebrowski Joe McManus Charlie Hartl, Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ [email protected] [email protected] Michael A. Beuerlein, South Atlantic Treasurer Huntington Beach, CA Tom Gill Rob Williams, Newport Beach, CA Staff Writers [email protected] [email protected] Mike Bartlett, Huntington Beach, CA Southeast Secretary B. Chris Brewster, San Diego, CA Joe McManus Nikki Bowie, Charleston, SC Dr. Peter Hartsock, [email protected] US Public Health Service [email protected] Great Lakes Rick Gould, Santa Clarita, CA Executive Delegate Joe Pecoraro Phil Rogers, Cape May, NJ Charlie Hartl [email protected] Peter Davis, Galveston, TX [email protected] Gulf Coast Junior Jam Editor International Liaison Tony Prior Jon Mitchell, [email protected] Peter Davis, Galveston, TX [email protected] Membership Liaison [email protected] Northwest Charlie Hartl, Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ Advisor Cathy VonWald [email protected] Tim Gallagher, Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ [email protected] Design/Typesetting [email protected] Southwest (CSLSA) Jennifer Velasquez, Torrance, CA Medical Advisor Rob McGowan [email protected] Dr. Peter Wernicki, Vero Beach, FL [email protected] Staff Photographers [email protected] Pacific Islands Jo Wagenhhals, Southeast Legal Advisor Ralph Goto Joel Gitelson, LA County, CA John "Chip" More, Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ [email protected] Mike Bartlett, Huntington Beach, CA [email protected] Bill Richardson, Huntington Beach, CA

USLA Special Assignments Bylaws and Policies International Public Information and John “Chip” More Peter Davis Media Relations [email protected] [email protected] Tom Gill Certification Junior Lifeguards [email protected] Tony Pryor Reenie Boyer Sign Standards [email protected] [email protected] Ralph Goto Competition Magazine [email protected] Ed Zebrowski Mike Bartlett Statistics [email protected] [email protected] Rick Gould Equipment Research Membership [email protected] Dave Foxwell Charlotte Graham Ways & Means [email protected] [email protected] Rob Williams Grant Solicitation Public Education [email protected] James McCrady Denise Blair Website [email protected] [email protected] Rob Williams Heroic Acts Awards [email protected] Adrienne Groh [email protected]

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 3 I N T HIS ISSUE

United States Lifesaving Cover Shot: July 4th, 2010, Huntington Beach, Association Mission Statement CA. Photo courtesy of Chris Clarke, Huntington www.usla.org Beach, CA 866-FOR-USLA (367-8752) We are America’s nonprofit, professional association of beach life- guards and open water rescuers. USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means. All correspondence other than for the magazine should be sent to: USLA Corporate Office, P.O. Box 366, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 or [email protected].

American Lifeguard Magazine™ American Lifeguard Magazine™ is published and distributed to every paid member of the USLA as a provision of their membership. If you wish to publish an article or submit a letter to the editor, address all submissions to: American Lifeguard Magazine™, 15481 Cottonwood Circle, Huntington Beach, CA, 92647, or [email protected]. Entire contents protected by the USLA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise - without the prior consent of ALM. Unsolicited materials, including all photographs, are submitted at the sender’s risk and ALM accepts no responsibility. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the contribu- IN THIS ISSUE tors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ALM or the USLA. President’s Message ...... 5

ALM Advertising Information Providing Lifeguards Makes The USLA manages the American Lifeguard Magazine™ and pub- Economic Sense ...... 7 lishes it tri-annually with a Summer Issue (July 1), Winter Issue (Nov. 1), and a Spring Issue (Feb. 1). The 36 page publication is mailed directly to 65–Year–Old Sets Age Record for NPS its 14,000 members comprised of lifeguards, administrators, junior Surfguard Pre-Employment Test ...... 8 guards, competitors and alumni. The American Lifeguard Magazine™ Waterman By Choice, serves to inform USLA members on a variety of public safety topics rang- Lifeguard By Profession ...... 9 ing from training and educational programs to innovative products, prac- tices and services. More importantly, it is the only national magazine to Lifeguarding in Lima ...... 15 target beach lifeguards and open water rescuers. The rates are: USLA Spring National Meeting in Advertisement Size One Issue Three Issues Savings Galveston, Texas ...... 20 Quarter page $175 $480 ($160 each) $45 Half page $285 $765 ($255 each) $90 Brewster Receives ISHOF’s Paragon Award ...... 21 Full page $450 $1200 ($400 each) $150 Full page (color) $500 $1320 ($440 each) $180 Boat Fire in Huntington Harbor ...... 22 Inside Covers(color) $500 $1320 ($440 each) $180 Reading the Rip: Scientists and Back Cover(color) $575 $1500 ($500 each) $225 Lifeguards Tackle Killer Currents ...... 27

Contact the Publisher/Editor, Michael S. Bartlett at (714) 345-5792, New Jersey Lifeguard Joins or email at [email protected] for questions or space reservations. the Coast Guard ...... 33

Editor’s Note: If your photo is used on the cover of the ALM, the Woman Is the Youngest to Cross USLA will send you a check for $100.00. Please send your photos on disk an Ocean Alone ...... 33 in the highest possible resolution, preferably taken with a digital camera USLA’s Carl Martinez Recognized with 5 mega pixels or higher to: USLA - American Lifeguard Magazine, for his Dedicated Service ...... 34 15481 Cottonwood Circle, Huntington Beach, CA 92647.

4 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 P RESIDENT’ S M ESSAGE B. Chris Brewster, San Diego, CA

If you want to be respected as a ters building opened in Huntington professional, you’ve got to act like a Beach. The two-story, $4 million, professional. 12,000 square foot facility came I was reminded of that dictum as equipped with surveillance gear, an I recently toured the brand new observation deck, office space, sep- beach patrol headquarters in Miami arate male/female locker rooms, Beach with Lt. Gerry Falconer. On and a 14 vehicle garage, among the beach at 10th Street and Ocean many other features. Steps away, a Drive, it includes a spacious workout standalone 5,500 square foot facility, a ready room, a classroom, Marine Safety Educational Center several individual offices, a recep- was built for the training of life- tion area, a locker room, and a vari- guards and junior lifeguards. ety of related facilities. The life- It was not always this way, of guards are no longer crammed into course. I recall, in the 1980s, work- a substandard facility. The members ing out of facilities that were primi- of this recently USLA certified tive, at best. At San Diego's Black’s agency are treated as public safety Beach, we sat in flimsy, folding professionals. time, as well as five part-time life- beach chairs upon the overturned Miami Beach is not alone in the guards in summer. There are two day rescue board atop our emergency metamorphosis of lifeguard facilities. rooms, a reception office for the pub- vehicle, so that we could get a bet- A few years ago, the Volusia County ter view of the teeming crowds (of lic, and a 4-vehicle apparatus bay. () Beach Patrol headquarters mostly nudists). Our restroom was In 2006, one of San Diego's life- was rebuilt. By all accounts it's an the ocean. At North Pacific Beach in guard observation stations I'd incredible building, 23,000 square San Diego, we worked out of a two- worked at in the Pacific Beach area, feet in size, with a large community level, collapsible plywood shack, where we could barely fit a single meeting area, along with all of the and walked to the public restroom. Jeep in the garage, and where the accoutrements included in the Miami We kept ‘em floating, but we felt like unisex locker room and ready room Beach facility, and more. itinerant workers. were on the observation deck, was Los Angeles County just complet- There were certainly advances in replaced with a 4,400 square foot ed a brand new $5 million lifeguard the 1980s and 1990s. Some larger facility. It includes separate locker headquarters in Avalon on Santa lifeguard facilities were built in a space for men and women, offices, Catalina Island. The paramedic life- few places, but they were the wel- sleeping quarters for lifeguards on guards there will now work from a come aberration, not the norm. 7,000 square foot, two-story, the 24-hour response shift, a multi- Thankfully, those primitive days of Spanish-style building adjacent to the vehicle garage, and a commanding, lifesaving are becoming memories. city's fire station. It includes two large isolated observation deck. I was Appropriately sized, well constructed kitchens and sleeping quarters for the pleased to have a small hand in the facilities are increasingly rising on two to three full-time lifeguard para- building's planning. beaches around the US. In San medics assigned there at any one A year prior, a new headquar- to page 6...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE... from page 5

Diego, three new permanent towers safety providers in a down economy ed to ensure that lifeguards who are slated to be built in the next few and rewarded a little less in an up come after them have it better too. years; in Laguna Beach, if regulato- economy, we are on the move, as The torch is passed. ry hurdles can be overcome, a new Martin Luther King said, “Like an Tomorrow, when you put on your headquarters is budgeted; and in idea whose time has come.” uniform, make sure it’s clean and Redondo Beach, a shared 4,000 The opportunity to work as a pro- square foot facility for lifeguards and fessional lifeguard is a gift few will neat; make sure you look like a pro- harbor patrol officers is in the works. ever experience. Those who came fessional; go about your day with There is a reason for all of this. before us felt obligated to make it dignity and humility; remember that Our young profession, which began better for those who came after. And you represent us all, and that it is in earnest only a little over 100 they did so. It takes many years to our collective image that allows our years ago, is transforming in the pub- build the sort of professional reputa- profession to advance. lic mind from one of a casual sum- tion that demands the respect implied If you want to be respected as a mer avocation, to one of a respect- by these lifesaving edifices. It takes ed, essential public safety service. years to plan them, fund them, and professional, you’ve got to act like a And while we may still seem to be build them. And those who will bene- professional. We have. We are. We hurt a little more than other public fit by them are now similarly obligat- progress. Lifesaving aye.

6 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 PROVIDING LIFEGUARDS MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE Joe McManus, Southeast Region

Florida has nearly 700 miles of [comprehensive] costs, they would be agencies are required by law to enter beaches, world famous for their beauty substantially higher without lifeguards.” into a memorandum of understanding and accessibility. According to visitflori- Just over fifty percent of Florida’s with the emergency services licensee in da.org , beaches are the primary desti- lifeguard agencies currently report their their respective areas of operation. nation of tourists who, incidentally, operational statistics annually to the Some lifeguard agencies have police added $65.2 billion in taxable sales to Lifesaving Association powers and some share responsibility the Florida economy in 2008. Tourists (USLA), a national, non-profit organiza- for evacuations during natural disasters. are not alone in using Florida’s beach- tion dedicated to reducing the incidence Coastal lifeguards are recognized as a es; they are also used by residents for a of drowning in the open water environ- constituency group member of the variety of activities. Safety service ment. These combined agencies report- providers understand that aquatic activi- ed 55 million beach visits in Florida in Florida Department of Health’s EMS ties in coastal waters pose certain risks 2008, with lifeguards logging just fewer Advisory Council. to the health, safety and welfare of the than 6,000 aquatic rescues. If one per- To be sure, the circumstances of the population enjoying those activities. Rip cent of these rescues had instead result- recent and tragic incident in which kite- currents are an all too present danger in ed in death due to the absence of life- surfer Steve Schafer lost his life due to a the surf. It is for this reason that state guard protection, the economic value of shark attack, and Martin County life- and local governments fund the nearly those deaths, based upon statistics com- guard Dan Lund risked his in an effort to 50 public lifeguard agencies operating piled by the National Safety Council, save Schafer, were extraordinary, but in Florida today. would exceed $270 million. the professional lifeguard is always pre- At a time when economies are The primary responsibility of a life- pared and willing to respond to unex- under duress, some may wonder if tax- guard is to save lives. Lifeguards per- pected life-threatening emergencies. In payers can afford to continue to fund form work that is physically demanding return, lifeguards ask only to be recog- government lifeguard operations. A bet- and arduous; it is work that requires nized and supported for the type of ter way of posing the question might be: extraordinary agility and mental acuity. work they perform. can we afford not to? In 2001, the Lifeguards are the only class of emer- Centers for Disease Control and gency services workers who are per- About the author: Joe McManus is Prevention (CDC) issued its Lifeguard formance tested annually, throughout vice-president of USLA (www.usla.org) Effectiveness report which, based on an their careers. and president of the Florida EMS economic cost-benefit analysis, found Nearly fifty percent of Florida’s life- Advisory Council’s lifeguard constituen- “Although water-related injuries and guard agencies are currently managed cy group. He is a national registry EMT drownings already result in tremendous by Public Safety Departments. Lifeguard and has been a lifeguard since 1974.

The USLA has arranged for deep discounts and special deals with leading companies that offer products of value to USLA members. Visit the USLA Home page (at the bottom) or the USLA Store, at: http://www.usla.org/store/store.asp Example discounts available to you: - 45% off Da Fin swim fins - 50% off Hobie polarized sunglasses (including special deals on prescription sunglasses) - 50% off almost all the products offered for sale by Finis - Special discounts on Ford automobiles. As well, lifeguards, chapters, and regions can purchase clothing and other items with the USLA logo embroidered on them at Uniserv GuardGear. And you can purchase rings with the USLA logo from Jostens. The USLA is committed to helping lifeguards get the best equipment at the best prices. Don't forget to sign up for your membership today through your chapter or at: http://membership.usla.org/memberlogin.asp

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 7 65–YEAR–OLD S ETS A GE R ECORD FOR NPS S URFGUARD P RE-EMPLOYMENT T EST Sandy Hook, NJ

ed to surf-lifeguard work, such as speed, strength, and stamina; knowledge of basic swimming-rescue and adult CPR procedures; and readily observable skill in effective- ly applying such knowledge under stressful conditions. The first part of the test requires completion of a 600- yard swim in less than 10 minutes (in a 25-yard pool or other measured course, using a swim stroke on the front only). Davis completed the required distance in 9:45 min- utes. By contrast, another test-taker, age 20, failed this section of the test with a finish time of 10:03 minutes. The next section of the test, the speed rescue, “Am I the only one on Medicare who is taking the involves swimming 50 yards to a dummy; towing that test today?” With these words, Don Davis presented dummy 50 yards back to the starting point; quickly exit- proof of his age as he registered to take the National ing the pool; then performing three cycles of adult CPR Park Service’s (NPS’) Surf-Lifeguard Pre-Employment Test on a manikin—all in less than 4 minutes. Davis complet- at Fordham University on January 9. As it turns out, he ed this section of the test in 3:25 minutes. was. The participant next closest to him in age that day The final part of the test requires completion of a 1_- was 49. mile run in less than 12 minutes (on a _-mile track or Davis, a 65-year-old former chief lifeguard for City other measured course). Davis completed the required of Parks Department, successfully completed distance in 11:36 minutes. By contrast, another test- the test as an annual requirement of all those seeking to taker, age 29, failed this part of the test with a finish work on the surf-lifeguard staff at Gateway National time of 12:07 minutes. Recreation Area. Davis’ noteworthy performance was not lost on Davis passed the required test to qualify for a highly Gateway National Recreation Area Water Safety coveted spot on the surf-lifeguard staff of Gateway Coordinator Carl Martinez or the other test participants. National Recreation Area. “All participants that day witnessed the truly inspiring Since the park’s first summer season, in 1974, this power of personal example,” said Martinez. “Whether staff of some 150 dedicated women and men has pro- they were 15 or 49 years old, each of them will retain vided professional life-guarding services to more than the memory of Don’s feat. And, in life, it really does not 100 million beach goers. Gateway National Recreation get very much better than that.” Area sees over 9 million visitors a year, making it one The three-part test consists of timed performance of the most visited sites in the National Park System, in objectives designed to measure for factors directly relat- the largest metropolitan area in the country.

8 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 WATERMAN BY CHOICE, LIFEGUARD BY PROFESSION Paul Chapman, Encinitas, CA In this article, I am ple of what we should going to be talking all strive for in regards about some concepts to competence within and ideas that are our operational area. “food for thought” for Now that we have the beach lifeguard. If decided on an accept- put into practice, these able definition for the concepts can raise the aforementioned, we percentages for a can get to taking a favorable outcome dur- look at some specifics. ing any myriad of What I like to do is emergent situations that draw a large circle on one may encounter the chalk board. Then I while on or off duty. ask all the students to Hopefully some of this Michener’s book “Chesapeake” tell me everything you can pertain to you and your work called “The Waterman”. These are can do in the near-shore ocean environment. Enjoy. men who made their living dredg- environment (near-shore should In regards to our lifeguards ing oysters in all kinds of condi- be defined as three nautical mi. here at my agency, I am very for- tions on the venerable skipjack. I or less) where we work. You tunate and honored to be in the am sure they know nothing of tow- should try it and see how many position to oversee training. I get ing into big waves like Laird things you can come up with. to implement and try new ideas Hamilton does and he is no doubt Place each activity in the circle to and concepts and I get a lot of an accomplished waterman as form a “pie chart”. While you feedback while doing so. Once well. To me, the word make your chart, be sure to make or twice per year I get to speak “Waterman” when used to define it as thorough as possible. For with candidates that are in the an individual is someone who has example; You can dive in the “San Diego Regional Lifeguard a very complete sense of the envi- ocean. So when you place Academy”. When addressing ronment that they live, work, and “Dive” on your chart, is that a academy students over the last or recreate in. This individual has thorough answer? Maybe not… few years, I have always talked an exquisite knowledge and You can free-dive, SCUBA Dive to about the concept of being a understanding of the elements at sport diving depth limits, or you “Waterman!” I ask for students to play around them and an expert could be a deep diver trained in give their definition of the word understanding of the tasks they “Tri-mix” diving etc. I am sure and we get some neat responses. undertake. And to all you big you get the point. Once you real- All of them are usually correct to strong guys out there, don’t think ly get into it, you begin to see an some extent if not entirely so. It even for a second that the term absolute multitude of possible makes for an interesting start to only applies to men. Two of the activities one can do in our work an interesting set of concepts. best lifeguards I work with are environment. Oh, and don’t for- Watermen come in all types women that can swim, paddle, get to put “lifeguarding” or some- and sizes and all walks of life. and make rescues with the best of thing of the like on there as well. There is a chapter in James em’!!! They are an excellent exam- to page 10...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 9 WATERMAN BY CHOICE... from page 9

Now that we have a definition lifesavers. To put it simply; I can out sailing is it? There is a very for a type of individual as well as guarantee that if you work on the good chance that at some point in a visual aid to show us several dif- ocean for only one summer you your job duties, someone who ferent types of activities that take will make rescues and/or med- doesn’t sail so well is going to place in our operational area, I ical aids. If you work on the have a problem in your water. The ocean for several summers, you like to make the following request. lifeguard will make effective and “Take a good look at that chart will participate in life changing professional semaphore and/or and ask yourself just how many rescues that had both good and radio communications to get the things on that chart you are truly right resources to assist the sailor competent at doing”. Now before doing so, we should ask ourselves “Take a good in need. However the waterman just what does “competent” mean? look at that chart who knows boats and how to sail Let’s take the item on your pie might just save the whole boat chart that sais “surfing”. If you are and ask yourself instead of just the crew. truly competent at surfing then you So to wrap it all up, why not could probably have the following just how many build a chart of your own and resume with the requisite knowl- things on that look at your development as a edge: waterman and how it relates to - You have ridden waves of all chart you are lifeguarding? Look at those areas sizes on all types of boards truly competent you might have limited or no - You have knowledge of where experience at and think about waves come from and why they at doing”. developing some new water skills break or enhancing some of the ones - You understand the effects of not so good outcomes. And if you already have. It’s fun if you tide, wind, current etc. on the you look at the chart, I can guar- love the ocean, and the best part surf antee that someone was doing is that you never stop learning no - You could give some history of one of those activities. In your matter how much you know. I the sport as well as how that has water, these activities are taking hope you found this “food for effected the way we ride waves place by individuals who fill a thought” interesting. Striving to and the equipment we use broad spectrum when we look at be the best lifeguards we can be, their level of competence! In This is could go on and on. can sometimes take us to places The point being is that true com- other words, they may have none beyond our on-the-job training. petency does not come easy and at all. For me, it is a very rewarding may be a lot more involved than That is precisely why we pursuit. Here’s wishing you the a first glance might dictate. should strive for true competence So now we are ready to in as many areas of the chart as best in your goals and aspira- relate the above definitions with we reasonably can. The training tions as a professional lifesaver. our visual aid to form a basic you receive in regards to rescuing You too can take pride in being concept of how being a compe- victims and rendering first aid is able to say; tent waterman applies to our top notch. However it just isn’t “Waterman by choice, life- work as professional open water practical to take all the lifeguards guard by profession”

10 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 11 SURVEYOR LIFEGUARD TOWERS BY INDUSTRIAL DESIGN RESEARCH

Surveyor Lifeguard Towers provide the safest and most cost effective way to station lifeguards in any environment. We are the worlds leading manufacturer of fiberglass lifeguard towers with well over 400 in use on beaches, lakes, pools, and military bases around the world. Our largest concentrations are deployed in , the Hawaiian Islands, and Florida. All Surveyor products are proudly made in the U.S.A. Our towers are made of high quality fiberglass with UV resistant gel coat and utilize all stainless hardware, stairs, and railings. By design they are ideally suited for harsh marine / aquatic environments. They protect lifeguards from excessive sun exposure, and provide excellent ventilation to help reduce fatigue. Our newest product, the Surveyor APEX (patient pending), shown in rear view below is designed to minimize structural exposure in extreme weather conditions when closed. This provides a huge benefit in hurricane prone areas.

We offer three tower models. The Surveyor APEX and Senior are dual lifeguard capacity. The Surveyor Junior is designed for a single lifeguard. All have easy closing and locking doors to protect against vandalism, locking cabinet(s), and counter space (APEX & Sr.). Our towers are more environmentally friendly, require less maintenance, and typically last far longer in corrosive environments then towers made from other materials. With minimal upkeep, like a fiberglass boat, they will last for several decades or more as proven by our units currently in the field. We can provide standard or custom designed lifeguard towers to fit any requirement. Our website has more detailed information on all our products, features, and options. Please contact us for quotations, or answers to any questions you may have.

Dave Stollery, CEO Email: [email protected] (714) 557-4009 or (714) 420-0695 cell Website: SurveyorLifeguardTowers.com

12 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 13 14 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 L IFEGUARDING IN L IMA Max Dean Goldstein, L.A. County

On a certain level, the cities of Lima and Los Angeles resemble each other in a few important ways. Both are a large coastal metropolis composed of an urban sprawl defined on its western edge by the Pacific Ocean shaped into a smooth bay, and only slightly connected by a cohe- sive public transportation system. Another salient similarity is the Spanish language, which as any Angelino knows is often the lingua franca of our city of Angeles. But what Los Angeles and Lima really have in common is their system of lifeguard operations, something I have noticed since I arrived in Lima and began working with the Peruvian life- guards over two months ago. My name is Max Dean Goldstein, and I have worked with the Los Angeles County Fire Department as an Ocean Lifeguard since the summer of 2003. Upon graduating from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, , in May of 2009, I was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, granting me a year of international travel based around a project of my own design. The requirements: to remain out of the U.S. for an entire year, to not go anywhere that I’ve previously trav- elled to, and to stay away from countries in the midst of warfare. My project: to swim around the world. Awesome: yes. Possibility: infinite. I left the U.S. on August 2nd, 2009 after another summer working as a Junior Lifeguard instructor in Santa Monica. I spent the first three months of my fellowship year between and Morocco, training to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar with various swim teams and lifesaving clubs, ulti- mately leaving behind a series of projects that I hope to return to in March of 2010. These include swimming and life- saving programs in Morocco, and the goal to assemble an international relay of swimmers to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, symbolizing how we can actually swim across a border that divides us. If you are interested in these projects, please contact me, but for now, let us get back to Peru… to page 17...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 15 16 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 LIFEGUARDING IN LIMA... from page 15 There is one jet ski that works, most of the time, and many more that don’t have motors. The rescue cans are the same torpedo shape as the ones we use in L.A. The problem is that many are made of fiberglass and not plastic, and have all been repaired in some very creative ways, mak- ing me doubt their practical use. Aside from the armed guards that patrol the compound holding large guns, or the riot police that stroll in for lunch bearing shields, helmets and batons, the general ambience of the headquarters is similar to what you would expect: a bunch of lifeguards moving in and out of the place, dressed in reds and wear- ing sandals on slightly sandy feet. Their training academy is extremely challenging and is I arrived in Peru on November 3rd, together with designed to filter out the unfit. Their motto is “Nuestra Carlos Alonso Ruiz, a Spanish lifeguard that I met while in razon de ser es la vida de nuestros semejantes” or “Our Spain. Carlos competes on the international level in ocean reason to be is the life of our fellow brethren”. They inter- lifesaving, and taking advantage of a paid trip to a com- pret the physical challenges of their academy as a way to petition in Brazil, he decided to hop across the South determine who has the strength and spiritual capacity to American continent and spend the next three months with put their life on the line for a victim. Given that they begin me in Peru. the academy in early October, amidst the cold end-of-win- Arriving in Lima, we found that the Peruvian lifeguards ter-ocean in Lima, the filtering/freezing process isn’t hard are managed through the Peruvian National Police, and to do. are first and foremost policemen. Not only do they form the national police force, however, they are actually the police that work in anti-disturbios y control de multitudes- the crowd control and riot police. This is slightly different than your typical lifeguard, who tends to spend the off months as a student or teacher, and this difference was the basis of our surprise when we first went to the lifeguard headquarters in Lima and encountered ourselves in the middle of a South American police outpost. When we arrived that first day at Lifeguard Headquarters, we were greeted by armed guards and a security check. Things calmed down when Captain Herbert Ramos appeared, welcoming us to what he referred to as our new home. He gave us a tour of headquarters, reveal- ing a highly outfitted compound in need of some TLC. Their To enter the lifeguard training academy (assuming you huge stash of boards is at least 15 years old, all of which are already a member of the police force), you must pass have no side straps and are made of thick waterlogged a swimming exam that consists of swimming 25m of each foam- more of a hazard in the water than they are a help. of the four strokes, plus 25m of sidestroke. Once accepted, the rookies begin a long three month academy, where Monday thru Saturday, from 7am until 6pm, they are at the mercy of their instructors. This year, 102 participants began the academy and only 60 finished. During the first six weeks of the academy they focus on enhancing the swimming skills of the lifeguards, spending hours each day in the pool and ocean. They are also con- sistently given written exams on lifeguard protocol, oceanography, first aid, and CPR. The instructors are very tough, ordering push-ups and extra swims at the slightest misbehavior. In order to finish the academy, they must pass to page 32...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 17 18 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 19 USLA SPRING NATIONAL MEETING IN GALVESTON, TEXAS

20 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 BREWSTER RECEIVES ISHOF’S PARAGON AWARD Michael S. Bartlett, Huntington Beach, CA and Bob Dillon, Belmar, NJ

For his outstanding contribu- Team Program and the USLA tions to Water Safety throughout National Manual, designed and the world, Chris Brewster, implemented to help professional President of the United States lifeguards be more prepared and Lifesaving Association (USLA), effective. was honored with the “Paragon Chris serves as Vice President Award” in the Water Safety of the International Lifesaving Category presented by the Federation, the world’s interna- International Swimming Hall of tional organization of lifesavers Fame (ISHOF). The ceremony and as President of the Americas took place on May 7, 2010, at Region, where he oversees ILF the International Swimming Hall activities throughout the western of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, FL hemisphere including North, and included several other South, and Central America, the awards at their annual ceremony Caribbean, and . He is and AT&T International Diving lifeguard Chief (retired) of the Grand Prix. San Diego Lifeguard Service and Chris Brewster began his life- Harbor Master with an annual saving career as a lifeguard on budget of $10 million with two the beaches of San Diego, hundred and forty employees. He California in 1979 and has grown over the past thirty has authored, co-authored or edited over twenty one years to become one of the world’s most influential pro- written articles, bills or papers; presented over twenty moters of beach and open water safety. His passion for four lectures and presentations in seven countries; given lifesaving education has caused him to serve in leader- over twenty five media appearances; and attended or ship capacities on numerous lifesaving and water safety presided over one hundred and thirty meetings, semi- organizations including President of United States nars, and events around the world. Lifesaving Association (USLA), America’s professional As author of the “USLA Manual of Open Water association of beach lifeguards charged with reducing Lifesaving”, he has initiated the US National the incidence of death and injury by drowning. Through Certification Program for Beaches and served as Chair Brewster’s initiatives and planning, the Lifeguard Agency of the National Certification Committee. For more infor- Certification Program, the Lifeguard Agency Response mation on Brewster, please visit www.lifesaver1.com.

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 21 Huntington Beach Marine Safety Officer II Claude Panis (lifeguard rescue boat captain on left) was summoned The 42 foot to the scene of a boat fire in cabin cruiser Huntington Harbor in April exploded and 2010 to trans- was engulfed port fire fighters to the OC with flames Sheriffs boat for fire suppression. The 42 foot cabin cruiser exploded and was engulfed with flames after starting their engines at a fuel dock and failing to properly ventilate the fuel vapors. The operator and passengers were treated for injuries and no deaths were reported.

22 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 23 24 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 25 26 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 READING THE RIP: SCIENTISTS AND LIFEGUARDS TACKLE KILLER CURRENTS Michael W. Fincham, Ocean City, MD - Reprinted with permission from the Chesapeake Quarterly 33 other rookies working rescues. On the beach at Ocean with the Ocean City "Rotate! Watch your rotation," barks City, Maryland lifeguards like Ben Davis learn to Beach Patrol. For them, a sandy-haired man who's watching the read the waves and whistle the beach drills are more beach action from beside a white jeep. swimmers and waders fun than work, letting Butch Arbin, captain of the Beach Patrol away from rip currents. them race from one drill and a 37-year veteran, set up these Davis is crew chief down at station to the next, then final maneuvers and he wants them the south end of the beach plunge into the surf, com- done right — all of them. "Station lead- where the wooden city pier creates frequent rips by pete in teams, pull out ers," he yells through a loudspeaker, steering longshore currents practice victims, and cele- "Keep your people moving." out to sea. Credit: Michael brate with wisecracks and He wants all his guards, both veter- W. Fincham. fist bumps. If they pass, ans and rookies, ready for D-Day. He they graduate, go off pro- remembers what happened this time last IT'S D-DAY MINUS 1, AND BEN bation, and get a pay raise. year. DAVIS BEGINS HIS MORNING with a It feels like any last practice before TONY DALRYMPLE AND VARJOLA 5:45 am workout. Two days earlier it any big game, but it's also like a war NELKO thought they would never find a was an 800 meter run, 30 kettleball game of sorts. At each station sergeants hotel in Ocean City. This was the fall of swings, and 30 pull-ups, five rounds of and lieutenants are giving orders. 2006 and the two scientists weren't each. Today it's ten snatches with maxi- Wherever they go veterans are walking looking for a room. What they wanted mum weight. He's doing Crossfit train- around, arms folded, yelling "Keep your was a roof with a view. There they ing, a popular regimen promoted for eyes on the ocean." Tomorrow is the would set up four video cameras that "forging elite fitness," especially for first start of the three-day July 4th weekend, would take pictures of the beach every responders. D-Day for the Beach Patrol. This holiday day of the year. All the hotel managers Fitness matters for Davis. He's a first always brings a massive invasion of hesitated. They had to check with own- responder, a crew chief for the life- ership and ownership was often a cor- guards watching the south end of the beachgoers down to one of the East poration located in another town that 10-mile sand beach at Ocean City, Coast's busiest beaches. That means saw little to gain from letting two scien- Maryland. A four-year veteran of the tens of thousands of people will be tists loose on a rooftop. It took dozens Coast Guard and a nine-year veteran of plunging into the waves, many of them of phone calls and treks to 15 hotels the Ocean City Beach Patrol, Davis has with weak swimming skills, and most before the manager of one hotel, the brown, sun-streaked hair and a solid with little understanding of what can Grand Stowaway Hotel, said yes. What build he has to keep in shape. At 31 happen when those waves slide back was the argument that worked? The years old, he's got to be ready to run out to sea. cameras, the scientists said, could help fast on wet sand, swim hard through Beachgoers worry about sharks and save lives. heavy swells, and haul drowning bodies lightning, but lifeguards worry about rip What would save lives, said off the bottom of the ocean. currents. Along most American beaches, Dalrymple, would be an accurate fore- Fitness comes easier for Billy they are the big killers. On any shore cast for dangerous rip currents. Tony DePaola. He's a wiry, curly-haired first with breaking waves, channels of sea- Dalrymple is lean, laconic, and white- timer, fresh from college and four years ward-flowing water can suddenly open haired, a coastal engineer at Johns of lacrosse and soccer. For DePaola, D- up and sweep swimmers and waders Hopkins University who's published Day minus 1 begins with lifeguard drills out past the breakers into deeper waters widely on wave dynamics and their on the beach. He carries injured swim- well beyond the beach. For most vic- effects on coastal structures like beach- mers out of the breaking waves. He tims, swimming back against the current es, breakwaters, jetties, and derricks. practices sprinting, diving, and swim- proves futile, leaving them exhausted He's been consulted on tsunamis in ming out through the swells, first with his and swept further out to sea. Most Thailand, hurricanes in New Orleans, small red buoy, then with a landline, drownings on American beaches are rip and giant surfing waves in Hawaii. He's and finally with a long, yellow rescue current drownings. And ninety percent also kept up a long-standing interest in surfboard. of the rescues by lifeguards at Ocean It's final exam day for DePaola and City are rip current to page 28...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 27 READING THE RIP... from page 27 the size and speed and direction of a wind events, he pulled ten years of wind wave depends on how long and wide records for Miami Beach and found a a less-famous subject: rip currents. the fetch is, how long the wind blows robust correlation between strong When a new grad student, Varjola across it, and how strong the wind is. onshore winds and high numbers of rip Nelko, arrived from Albania and Turkey Six decades after the Normandy current rescues. Ebbing tides also corre- in search of a Ph.D. topic, he gave her Invasion, any surfer can now go to web- lated strongly. Focusing on winds and a tough one. They would work up a sites like Surfline.com or tides, he built the country's first system new way of predicting when rip currents WaveWatch.com and find an up-to-date for forecasting rip current dangers. The are likely to show up. forecast for the wave and surf condi- Miami office began issuing daily warn- How could they sharpen rip current tions they'll probably see that day when ings about high risk, moderate risk, and forecasts using cameras? By capturing they wade out with their boards from low risk days. actual photos of rip currents as they their local beach. Long-distance ocean swells, surpris- formed. Then by correlating those rips in At Ocean City the beach patrol gets ingly, got little play in his early predic- the photos with weather data about its wind and wave forecasts from the tive model for rip currents, apparently wind and waves, the natural forces that National Weather Service, specifically for geographic reasons. Long-running drive these killer currents. That, at least, from the Wakefield, Virginia office swells that crossed the ocean from was the approach he wanted to try. where forecasters work up predictions Africa or Europe and headed towards Observation, analysis, and predic- using data from offshore buoys and out- Florida were largely blocked by the tive modeling, that's a classic progres- put from the powerful numerical models shallow waters of the Bahama Islands. sion, but it's not the way scientists usual- that form the heart of contemporary Surfers who track big swells call this ly forecast rip currents. Ever since the wave forecasting. Since the buoys and effect the island shadow. Later scientists late 1980s scientists have focused on the models don't always match, the fore- who adapted the Lushine scale to other rip current rescues, not on actual rip cur- casters turn to other statistical tools and, beaches gave greater numerical weight rents observed in action. With their cam- finally, to their own judgments. "It's not to wave heights and to long-period eras, Dalrymple and Nelko were trying just: ‘Here's the model, it's saying this.' swells originating in distant locations. to change the ground rules of the fore- And we just go with it," says John Billet, The game of mixing and matching casting game. science operations officer at the Center. weather factors with rip rescues was on. HISTORY'S MOST FAMOUS D-DAY "We make adjustments." The final fore- And the game continues today. To WAS the large beach invasion that hap- work up a rip current prediction for pened 65 years ago this summer. On cast is always made by people. Ocean City, John Billet and the other June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Standing on the shore at Ocean forecasters at the Wakefield Center use American, British, and Canadian troops City, lifeguard captain Butch Arbin can a later version of the system Lushine pio- waded ashore through a three-foot surf, now find out what kind of swells are launching the Normandy Invasion that heading towards him, even if they're all neered in Florida. They call their tool began the liberation of Europe and the way from a "fetch" near Europe or MALURCS, short for the Mid-Atlantic helped end World War II. One little- Africa. Like most lifeguards, Arbin Lushine Rip Current Scale, and in their known key to the success of that long- watches these wind and wave forecasts version of Lushine's scale ocean swells ago assault was a top-secret technique, closely, but warily. What he really needs — their size, timing, and direction — newly invented, that helped forecast the for his D-Day weekend is a way to turn are hugely important. "They are definite- waves and surf that would be hitting the those reliable wave forecasts into use- ly the biggest input," says Billet. There target beaches that day. On one of the able rip current forecasts. are, after all, no nearby islands stand- bloodiest days of the war, that forecast IN THE 1980S, A METEOROLOGIST ing between Ocean City and the other helped save lives. in Miami began asking medical examin- side of the Atlantic. That technique, created by an ers and beach patrols for reports about The Wakefield forecasters are also Austrian named Walter Munk and a drowning deaths and rip current rescues using another tool: the eyeballs of Norwegian named Harald Sverdrup, is along the beaches of southeast Florida. Ocean City lifeguards. As Ben Davis, no longer secret. Its basic claims about Jim Lushine, a forecaster with the the veteran lifeguard, takes his place wind-created waves form the conceptual National Weather Service, collected atop his chair tower, he scans the ocean starting points for contemporary wave these reports and then looked for corre- in front of him, looking for signs of rip forecasting — and now for rip current lations between rip current rescues and currents down near the Ocean City pier forecasting. A wave, they said, starts weather conditions. What combinations and inlet. Up the beach at 120th Street, with a wind somewhere in the world of wind and wave conditions matched Billy DePaola, the rookie, does the scraping along a stretch of ocean. They up with high rescue days, with moder- same. By 10:00 am more than 90 pairs called that expanse of wind-stroked ate rescue days, with low rescue days? of eyeballs are reading the ocean, look- water a "fetch," and they theorized that When lifeguards told him to focus on to page 29...

28 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 READING THE RIP... from page 28 the water, you can also get the rip cur- umbrellas. Perhaps they're having a rent forecast. If it says "moderate risk" good time. Beyond is the surf zone: ing for rips. Sergeants in charge of each of rip currents, you might want to stay shallow water, then lines of breaking section report their reads back to Beach on the beach. If it says "high risk," you waves, then deeper, dangerous waters. Patrol headquarters, and the dispatcher might want to stay home. Only a few waders are actually in the on duty faxes them to the National For now the official forecasts are water. Perhaps they know what they're Weather Service. The rip current threat largely ignored by Captain Burch Arbin doing. One wishes them well. It's a god- is forecast as low or moderate or high and his lifeguards. When it comes to rip like view from up here in the sky. as calculated by lifeguards — not by a currents, they'd rather trust the readings Lushine predictive scale. The fax goes they make themselves, watching the out three times every day, and the last waves from chair towers eight feet one includes another number: the day's above the beach. total for rip current rescues. WHEN TONY DALRYMPLE AND VARJOLA Nelko finally found an Ocean City rooftop for their cameras, they began reading the ocean from 14 sto- Two ways to read the ries above the boardwalk. rips: from on high, Their high-angle perch in the sky lets from on the beach. Scientists Tony them test a radically different approach Dalrymple (above, left) to rip current forecasting. Instead of col- and Varjola Nelko lecting records of rip current rescues — work at Johns Hopkins as Lushine and his followers have been University using high-angle images from their Eyes in the skies, these cameras watch the doing for two decades — they're collect- rooftop cameras. With funding from Maryland Sea Grant, they are analyzing how beach from the rooftop at the Grand ing visual records of the rip currents rip currents form and are devising a formula Stowaway Hotel at 21st street in Ocean City. themselves. for accurately forecasting their arrival. A They send their photographs over the internet Their field work was simple in con- lifeguard (above, right) works from a tower to desktop computers at Johns Hopkins chair along the Ocean City beach using his University, where Robert "Tony" Dalrymple cept: put video cameras on a high training and experience to spot rip currents and Varjola Nelko analyze the images for rooftop and then photograph the beach and rescue swimmers from their clutches. evidence of how dangerous rip currents form. and surf zone where rip currents form. Credit: Michael W. Fincham. To see what these cameras see, go to their The cameras take photographs at 3 website: http://www.ce.jhu.edu/oceancity/. frames a second for 10 minutes, then A couple more taps and Dalrymple Can you pick out the rip currents? average them together and shoot them brings up another image, a freeze-frame Credit: Michael W. Fincham. straight to Dalrymple and Nelko. From that averages together 10 minutes of the rooftop cameras to a hotel computer pictures. Think of a double exposure These rip current reads and rescue to the internet to a desktop computer, the multiplied 1800 times. The image is stats will play a key role, not for today's beach pictures fly from Ocean City to slightly blurry like an X-ray, and like a forecasts or tomorrow's, but for next two university offices in Baltimore. Much doctor advising a patient, Dalrymple year's. In the off-season the Wakefield like lifeguards sitting on their beach begins diagnosing the big picture. "All forecasters will verify their forecasts from chairs, the scientists can sit in their office, the breaking is occurring right here," he the past year by comparing them without sunglasses or sunblock, and try says, pointing to a smudged line that against all these reports from the field. reading the waves for rip currents. compresses together hundreds of surf With this kind of groundtruthing, they From behind a desk strewn with breaks. Waves break in shallow waters, can adjust their weighting values and books and assorted spiral-bound and that smudged line of breaks tells sharpen their predictive power for the reports, Dalrymple swivels his chair and him that's where the sandbars are. next year. It's a kind of off-season tune- pulls up to a large-screen computer "Then the water gets deeper again," up for their forecasting engine. against the wall. He taps the keyboard. he says, pointing to a dark strip of The result, in theory, should be rip Here in this long office lined with book- water trapped in a trough between the current forecasts that grow more precise shelves, with a guitar case sitting on the sandbar and the shore, water that has year by year. The official forecasts, in floor, with a window looking out onto to run out to sea again somewhere. practice, seem to be more helpful for the green, quiet campus of Johns "Probably a low spot right there," he occasional beachgoers as more media Hopkins University, we are suddenly says, his finger on a dark gap in the outlets every year carry the forecasts. If back in Ocean City. We're looking breaker line. "Not necessarily a rip cur- you're headed for the beach you can down on a beach busy with sunbathers rent there, but it's more likely to be there turn on the radio or go online and get sprawled on blankets and sitting under the weather forecast. If you're going in to page 30...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 29 READING THE RIP... from page 29 every 100 actual rip currents, MALURCS are not gods, but they're not powerless predicted only 40, well below a passing either. When a rip opens up and it's too than anywhere else." grade in most schools. A score of 40 late to whistle people away, they have None of those tiny humans wading may be better than nothing, perhaps, but options, primarily speed, teamwork, and down there in the surf can hear it means the forecasts now used for the training. A guard signals the next tower, Dalrymple's diagnosis of danger deliv- Mid-Atlantic region are probably failing then hits the sand running. "You just ered from an office in Baltimore. "A to predict 60 percent of the rip currents head there," says Davis. Next comes in- well-trained lifeguard would know that along the Ocean City shore. the-water triage. "You start getting peo- there are likely rips there," says IT'S NOT GODLIKE, BUT THE VIEW ple out of the shallows. If they are Dalrymple, "but it is really obvious from from his 8-foot lifeguard tower is high already in over their heads, you tell here." One hopes a lifeguard is alert. enough for Ben Davis to easily spot a them how to swim out." If they can't The view from the 14th floor may be flash rip and quickly whistle at a small swim, then the guards go after them. godlike, but it's the vision of a distant, boy who's being tugged gently sea- That could mean battling through powerless deity. wards. The boy looks up, then wades the breakers with a rescue buoy to Accurate forecasts may save lives in slowly sideways out of the rip channel. reach swimmers in panic. Or bounding some future summers — that's the hope That doesn't count as a rescue stat, but into the breakers with a surfer-style res- at least — but there's a whiff of scientif- it's probably a lifeguard's most common cue board, perhaps the fastest way to ic hubris around any project trying to catch, spotting a risk before it becomes reach a failing swimmer. Or swimming predict natural forces as sporadic as rip a rescue event. out a lifeline so lifeguards on the beach currents. Following on the success of He drops the whistle and swivels his can haul exhausted swimmers back wave forecasting, however, scientists at head slowly from north to south, survey- through the surf. more than a dozen universities are now ing his kingdom, the slice of beach that Last year about this time, they had working with wave-basin studies, current stretches from the long wooden town to use all their tools. As the annual July meters, pressure gauges, and time-lapse pier down to the rockpile jetty at the 4th invasion hit Ocean City beaches, a photography, all in hopes of tracking rip south end of Ocean City. As crew chief, tropical storm began forming some current behavior. Much of that field and he has dominion here. With several hun- 3,000 miles away, starting wave trains lab data are then fed into numerical dred people under the watch of his heading this way from the west hump of models. crew, he has to catch more than 40 per- Africa. By July 7, the storm, now a hurri- With their cameras and freeze- cane called Bertha, was hanging well frame X-rays, Dalrymple and Nelko are cent of the rips. east and south of Bermuda — and still among the first to directly observe rip Like a lot of lifeguards, Davis is also sending wave trains headed west. The currents in action. By turning their obser- an on-site oceanographer, reading the storm never came near Ocean City, vations into usable data, they are work- waves and the wind so he can make his ing around the drawback found in all own instant forecast of rip current dan- hanging out past Bermuda for nearly a the earlier forecasts. The Lushine predic- gers. Watching swells roll past the end week. But its long-period waves began tive scales all focused not on rip currents of the pier, he notes their direction, esti- coming ashore by July 9. For the next but on rescues. Rescue totals can go up mates their heights, and counts off the week, a week of mostly sunny days, rip and down for reasons that have nothing seconds between swells. channels were opening up all along the to do with rip currents. Rescues can rise Reading the rip, like reading music, beach, and lifeguards were scrambling when sunny days or holidays bring out is a learned skill. The best sign of a rip, to pull out all their lifesaving gear. The large crowds, and they can fall when for Davis, is color, color that's different Ocean City Beach Patrol, according to cloudy skies keep people away. When from the rest of the water. A rip current Captain Butch Arbin, set its all-time nobody's at the beach, rip currents are can be darker because the water is record. In one seven-day period, life- still there, churning in the surf. deeper where it flows through a chan- guards rescued over 2,000 people from Why try for a new way to forecast nel. Or it can be lighter, especially with killer-size rip currents. While three peo- rip currents? Because Dalrymple and "flash rips," because they pick up sand ple drowned along the New Jersey Nelko tested the forecasting tool now in from the bottom and carry it seaward. coast, nobody drowned on the beaches use and came up with a failing grade. "It can be very deceptive," warns Davis. at Ocean City. They took MALURCS, the Mid-Atlantic A rip current, ironically enough, can HUGE STORMS LIKE BERTHA, IT Lushine Rip Current Scale used by the look like a safe patch of water. As a TURNS out, can play a surprising role in National Weather Service, and they current surges out, it can knock down the dynamics of rip currents at Ocean asked it a simple test question: How the surf break, creating calm-looking City. With freeze-frame images from many of the actual rip currents they water that draws in timid waders who their cameras in the sky, Dalrymple and caught on camera could be predicted by don't want to battle breaking waves. Nelko are able to watch how sandbars the Lushine scale? Their answer: For Lifeguards up on their tower chairs to page 31...

30 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 READING THE RIP... from page 30 mile beach. It's closing time and Davis the ocean. wraps up his American flag, climbs IT COULD HAVE BEEN AN EVENING are born and track where they go to down, and begins packing up his gear. like this. The chair towers are down, the die. And it's the life cycles of sandbars For his last chore he tilts his tall guards are gone, and the slanting sun is that largely control the setup and spac- chair tower over his back, all 300 lighting the ocean with a brilliant, celes- ing of rip current channels. pounds of it, and drags it thirty yards tial blue. The two boys who went swim- The world of rips, according to back through the soft sand and lays it ming that evening stayed down at the Dalrymple, begins with a flat beach and on its side. It's pure grunt work and south end of the beach where their par- a big storm that tears sand off the shore every guard does it every day. ents could watch them from the shore. and carries it seaward. The sand never The ocean empties, but the beach From there the father was able to watch gets very far because the outgoing doesn't. And ten minutes later several as the rip current carried both the boys, water runs into other incoming waves swimmers begin wading back into the now shouting, out past the jetty. And the and simply drops its load. And voila! surf. mother was able to watch as the father, New sandbars are born. SO WHAT'S THE FORECAST FROM The beach is now "set up" to form now swimming, went out in the glowing THE 14TH FLOOR? rip channels. When backwashing sea- sea to save his sons. When Dalrymple and Nelko built water can no longer run out over the It was a passing boat that pulled the their new predictive system, they took sandbar, on ebbing tides for example, it boys to safety. And it was an off-duty their real-life rip currents as captured by then goes looking for another exit. lifeguard who found the father's body. their cameras and looked at each of the Wherever there's a notch in a sandbar They call the work "search and recov- weather forces in play that day. In uni- or a low spot along the beach, back- ery," and lifeguards practice this drill versity research like this most of the grunt washing water will begin wedging its also. It was Butch Arbin, captain of the work falls to grad students like Nelko. way through. A notch becomes a chan- Beach Patrol, who sat on the beach with First she plotted rip currents against nel, and a rip current runs through it, a sobbing mother holding a two-year- wave heights, the best measure of how pulsing most strongly after the arrival of old, now fatherless baby. energy is hitting the beach. Then she did large wave sets. "Our guards don't remember every the same thing with wave period, which In the weeks after the storm, those person they've saved. I don't remember gives an estimate of speed. Then with sandbars, as seen in their photos, start how many people I've rescued," he wave direction. Then with wind speed creeping shorewards, pushed back says. "I just don't remember." But they and wind direction. That's an ocean of towards the beach by incoming waves. clearly remember the ones they couldn't data she had to swim through. During the pushback, sandbars move at save. Around the country, most rip cur- When they tested their new system, different rates, and new rip channels rent drownings happen much like this they got a nice number. Their forecast appear among them, flashing open in one at Ocean City. No lifeguards in predicted 72 out of 100 actual rip cur- unexpected places. "The beach gets their chairs. No cameras in the sky. very wriggly," says Dalrymple. Barring rents. Seventy-two percent is a big jump over 40 percent, the best the official And here's where new forecasts another big storm, the sandbars will could save lives, even when lifeguards eventually reattach to the beach. The forecasts could do with the same rips. can't. For the foreseeable future, life- beach will flatten out again and stabi- That sounds like a passing grade in guards will probably remain their own lize. Rip currents will dwindle. most schools, but it's not good enough rip current forecasters, relying on their Creatures of winds and waves, rip at Hopkins, not yet. Nelko still has more well-earned skills at reading the waves currents are also, it's now clear, creatures data to wade through. in front of them. of bathymetry. For scientists with their The scientists want to raise their But for the rest of us who may be freeze-frames, reading the rips now POD, their Probability of Detection, and means reading the bottom also: seeing lower their FAR, their False Alarm Ratio. driving to the beach or standing on the the setup, charting the rip channels, track- Their forecast unfortunately also predict- sand trying to read the waves, good ing the slow, wriggly trek towards shore. ed rip currents when there were none, a forecasts count. We heard the weather For lifeguards without X-rays of the bot- prospect that might keep people at forecast before we left the house and tom, reading the rips just got more com- home on perfectly safe beach days. "If we trusted it enough to get in the car plicated. Now they need to keep a people don't go to the beach," says and head out. weather eye out for how rip channels can Nelko "then you have a lot of merchants It's here perhaps, on beaches empty change during a storm cycle. who are not selling saltwater taffy. It has of lifeguards, that good rip current fore- AT 5:30 BEN DAVIS STANDS UP on economic consequences." If everybody casts would matter the most, helping us his chair, blows his whistle, and begins stays home, then nobody's selling much decide whether to go home, rest on the waving swimmers out of the water. And of anything, not T-shirts or hot dogs or beach, or go for a plunge in the unpre- so do 91 other lifeguards along the 10- hotel rooms with a high-angle view of dictable waves.

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 31 LIFEGUARDING IN LIMA... from page 17 Police, and therefore lifeguards, earn an average of only $350 a month, the more aquatically talented/wealthy citi- zens are not very likely to take on a job as a lifeguard. I believe that the real solution is to start a Junior Lifeguard program, recruiting children of the police for a summer program of ocean lifesaving and open water swimming. There are already many examples of this police/lifeguard family legacy in Peru, but having complet- ed a few summers of the Jr. Lifeguard program, the new generation will be much more aquatically fit and thus pre- pared for the lifeguard academy. Incorporating a Junior Lifeguard program into their equation will raise the level of swimming and lifesaving within Peru. And this is what we are currently doing; organizing a Junior Lifeguard program through the Lifeguard Headquarters of the Peruvian National Police. They a comprehensive written exam and complete a 6km ocean already have a calendar of summer youth programs, swim. If they succeed, they joyfully strip their riot gear and including a swimming academy, and we are simply sport their lifeguard reds for the summer. It’s as if they adding a new dimension to this social service. We plan to immediately take on the internationally common lifeguard begin on January 4th with 30 kids, ages 12-17, and fore- personality: people who recognize and enjoy that their offi- see this summer as creating the foundation for the future of cial work uniform is beach attire. a Junior Lifeguard program in Peru. Everybody is excited Not only will these lifeguards work the beaches of the about it; the captains and chiefs have already enrolled bay of Lima, which is slightly smaller than Santa Monica their children, and we’ve even been interviewed on nation- Bay in Los Angeles, but they will also cover the beaches al television on a few separate occasions. 150km north and south of the city. Around 700 lifeguards The only problem is that we have very little equipment. will patrol these Pacific waters and make an average of C.S.L.A was kind enough to donate $300, which we plan 2,200 rescues during the summer months. The Peruvian on using to purchase rescue cans and uniforms, and aside coast is known for its large surf, and from what I under- from a few of those old rescue boards or any rescue cans stand, most of these rescues are not of the preventative that get left behind at headquarters, we’ll have to make do type, but of the near drowning type. with the ocean and the sand (which is bountiful). The lifeguards in Lima have a very established pro- If you are interested in finding out more about these gram, with the three month long training academy as the projects, in Peru, Spain or Morocco, please contact me via prime example of how seriously they take their lifesaving. email at [email protected]. You can also They lack equipment and need new rescue boards and res- access my photos and travel blog via: swimaroundthe- cue cans. Their fiberglass rescue cans break easily and are world.blogspot.com a hazard in the surf line, and their rescue boards are We are specifically looking for material donations for essentially useless. Neither do they have any medical the Peruvian lifeguards, and monetary or material dona- equipment, and most importantly could use an AED at tions for the Peruvian Junior Lifeguard program. each of the most visited beaches. Many lifeguards have shared stories with me of failed CPR attempts on cardiac arrest victims as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. What is really needed, however, is to increase the level of swimming within the lifeguards, because even after the first six weeks of the training academy, it is their dedication to the lives of their brethren that enables them to rescue vic- tims, and not their strength in swimming. A simple response to this dilemma would be to call upon the surfing and swimming communities in Peru and attract them to work as lifeguards. The problem here is that the surfers and good swimmers are both groups composed of more wealthy citizens, and given that Peruvian National

32 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 NEW JERSEY LIFEGUARD JOINS THE COAST GUARD Bob Dillon, Belmar, NJ

Lauren Pfeiffer, of the becoming a Rescue Swimmer (as in “The Guardian”). Monmouth County, New Currently, Pfeiffer is stationed aboard a USCG cutter in Jersey Chapter, graduated Portsmouth, VA. It is nice to have options! with honors from the US Graduation with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Coast Guard Recruit from the College of New Jersey, she has expressed an interest Training Command Center in pursuing the Officer Candidate School while in the Coast in Cape May, NJ in Guard. She is interest- November 2009. She was ed specifically in the first in her company receiv- law enforcement area ing the “Honor Graduate of the Coast Guard Award” as well as receiving since her long term the “Seamanship Award”. goal is to become a She finished second for the NJ State Trooper. “Recruit Physical Fitness After serving her Award” having been beat country in the Coast only by a male recruit! Guard, her status as a As a veteran guard, veteran with law Pfeiffer has been competing and placing in the USLA enforcement experi- Nationals the last two years of her surf lifesaving participa- ence should certainly tion. She has been a lifeguard at the Sea Girt Beach, NJ and enhance her chances competes in both local tournaments, as well as in the Mid- of achieving her Atlantic Regional Competitions as an avid competitor. dream as a State Pfeiffer was a record holder in swimming competitions Trooper. both in high school and in college. In addition to surf lifesav- Good luck to Lauren in her pursuit of serving her country ing competitions, she has competed in several tri-athelons. and may she always remember the USLA motto “Lifeguards With these accomplishments, her options would include For Life”!

WOMAN IS THE YOUNGEST TO CROSS AN OCEAN ALONE Christopher Maag, Reprinted with permission, AP in Feb. 2010

Katie Spotz completed her mission ed a tow for the last few miles, said Sam was broadsided by 20-foot waves as she recently, becoming the youngest person to Williams, who rowed the Atlantic in 2008 approached South America. It was a row an entire ocean solo, and the first and communicated with Spotz via satellite frightening ride, even though the boat was American to row a boat without help from phone during the trip built to withstand hurricanes and 50-foot mainland to mainland. After 70 days 5 Determined to make the entire cross- waves, said Phil Morrison, the British hours 22 minutes in the Atlantic, Spotz, ing under her own power, Spotz kept row- yacht builder who designed it. 22, arrived in Georgetown, , in ing to Georgetown, 400 miles to the Spotz said in a telephone interview South America. northeast, where currents are milder. after the trip, “I was worried the boat “You’re in a situation that you can’t “I’m just impressed by the way she’s might capsize.” escape, so you really have to dig deep,” got on and done it,” Williams said. “She’s Early in the trip, Spotz broke the said Spotz, who left Jan. 3 from Dakar, had such little drama. Most people would cable that allowed her to steer with her , on the west coast of Africa. be scared out of their minds.” foot as she rowed, forcing her to use a Her 2,817-mile journey raised more Spotz had packed enough food to last cumbersome hand steering system. A day than $70,000 for the Blue Planet Run 110 days: half a million calories’ worth of before landfall, Spotz smelled smoke. Her Foundation, which finances drinking water mostly freeze-dried meals, granola and GPS tracker, which she used to update her projects around the world. dried fruit. Her crossing took much less position on her blog, was on fire. Spotz The trip could have ended eight days time because she had help from the trade extinguished it. Her GPS device for navi- ago. But as Spotz approached Cayenne, currents, and was fortunate not to face gation was not affected. French Guiana, the wind and currents any major weather or technical problems. grew so strong that she would have need- Her 19-foot yellow wooden rowboat to page 34...

AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010 33 USLA’S C ARL M ARTINEZ R ECOGNIZED FOR HIS D EDICATED S ERVICE Bob Dillon, Belmar, NJ

Long-time USLA member Carl years ago to recognize women life- Martinez of the National Park Service in guards, but has been at the helm of this Sandy Hook, New Jersey, was recog- competition ever since which is held the nized for his many years of dedicated last Wednesday in July. service to promoting women lifeguards. The inscription on the plaque was He was presented with a plaque by written by Bill Richardson, past USLA Denise Blair of the Monmouth County President and retired lifeguard chief of Mid-Atlantic Region at last year’s 25th Huntington Beach. It reads: Anniversary of the “All Women Lifeguard “In recognition of four decades of Competition” on behalf of both the USLA dedicated and faithful service to the and all the women lifeguards who have Open Water Lifesaving Community and participated during these past 25 years specifically for the development, promo- of competition. The All Women Lifeguard tion and operation of the NPS All- Competition is sponsored by the Women Lifeguard Tournament which is National Park Service and was initially celebrating it’s 25th year of operation in held at the Jacob Riss Park, New York 2009. Carl is honored for his gentle Unit of the Gateway National Recreation spirit, his kind and generous heart and Area (NY/NJ). For the last five years, at the Sandy Hook, NJ unit of GNRA. his leadership qualities. Thank you for the All Women’s Competition was held Martinez not only initiated this event 25 serving so long and so well!”

WOMAN IS THE YOUNGEST... from page 33 but not much. fully crossed an ocean, according to the “Sleeping was a real prob- Society. Nearly as many Most important, the boat’s solar pan- lem,” Spotz said. “It took a toll rowboat crews, 102, tried and failed. els, batteries, water desalination machine to put out that much physical effort on very One American, Nenad Belic, attempted to and the iPod she used to play audio little rest.” row solo across the Atlantic in 2001. He books on Zen meditation remained func- Spotz grew up in Mentor, , a was lost at sea. tional. suburb of Cleveland. Her career as an It took Spotz two years to plan the trip Her equipment was a vast improve- endurance athlete began when she ran and to raise $100,000 to pay for it. ment over that of the first ocean rowers, her first marathon at age 18. Later she Spotz’s parents tried to persuade her not the Norwegian immigrants George Harbo cycled across the United States and to try such a dangerous adventure. became the first person to swim the length and Gabriel Samuelson, who traveled “Are you nuts?” Dan Spotz, her of the . from New York to in 1896 in an father, said when she told him about her open boat. Before leaving for Senegal, her biggest plan. “When she rode a bike across the “I wouldn’t go on a trip like this with- boating experience consisted of a 40-mile entire country, she didn’t have to worry out all the safety gear and technology I practice row on Lake Erie that ended with about sharks or pirates.” had,” Spotz said. her boat being pinned against a cliff by Spotz did see sharks. She was Even so, the voyage remained a gru- wind and waves. The boat was nearly splashed by dolphins as big as her boat. eling test of endurance. Spotz developed destroyed. Many people asked Spotz how painful calluses and rashes from rowing 8 she could row across the Atlantic if she Fish leapt and slapped her in the face, to 10 hours a day. could not even row on Lake Erie. and exhausted birds nestled beside her as Spotz could have cooled herself at The answer, she said, is that the she rowed. night by opening the two hatches of her biggest danger in ocean rowing besides Rather than thinking about how far watertight sleeping cabin, but doing so hurricanes is coming too close to shore, she had traveled or how many miles she would have made her vulnerable to large where the current can overwhelm the had left, she tried to notice her surround- waves. So she kept both hatches closed. rower and push the boat into the rocks. ings. As she slept, her boat bobbed errati- “The last day of the trip is always the “For this journey I really couldn’t think cally in the waves. To keep from being most dangerous,” Williams said. that far in advance because otherwise it thrown around the cabin, Spotz used Landing safely is a major accomplish- would be overwhelming,” Spotz said. “It clothes and gear to wedge herself on a ment in the sport of ocean rowing. In the allowed me to focus on what was happen- thin foam mattress. The padding helped, last decade, 110 rowboats have success- ing in that moment.”

34 AMERICAN LIFEGUARD MAGAZINE, SPRING 2010