Jr. Lifeguard program is a South Bay ‘rite of passage’

Junior lifeguards celebrate the end of their training this summer with a swim to the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier. Photo

A hundred kids swam around the end of the Manhattan Beach pier Tuesday morning, splashing and giggling and screaming and —  most crucially — moving with utter ease through the ocean water.

Construction workers at the Roundhouse Aquarium at the end of the pier took a quick break and stared down at the gaggle of swimmers in awe.

“All we see is dirt and cactuses in Arizona,” said one of the workers, shaking his head.

The swim around the pier is a culminating moment in the month-long Jr. Lifeguard program, in which kids ages 9 through 17 are taught the fundamentals of ocean safety and rescue by LA County Lifeguards. The program, which is in its 91st year in LA County, has also become a personal culmination —  as its thousands of alumni attest, becoming junior lifeguards not only opened up a life aquatic for them but often instilled a sense of confidence that carried into the rest of their lives.

“It’s a rite of passage,” said Peir Serota, whose 11-year-old son, Race, was among the kids in the water below.

“If you want to live in Manhattan Beach, you better know how to do this,” said Jeff Serota, Race’s father.

Race is completing his second year in the junior guard program. He said the experience has made a big difference in his life.
“I was so nervous every morning last year. I threw up a lot last year,” he said. “Now, it’s really fun…. I feel comfortable if I’m in a situation, I can get out of it. I feel comfortable in the water a lot more.”

Lifeguard Micah Carlson, who oversees the program countywide, said he’s seen this transformation occur with thousands of kids. It begins with simply learning not to panic.

“Part of immersion training, being in the water swimming or paddling, it’s a stress inoculation for them,” Carlson said. “So when they get in a sticky situation, they are not necessarily comfortable, but also not completely freaking out and panicking so they are able to do something to rescue themselves or preserve their own safety. A lot of what we try to do is equip these kids to take ownership of their own safety and development as young adults.”

The transformation that begins in the ocean often continues on land.

“I taught junior lifeguards five years,” said Carlson, who was a decidedly non-oceangoing kid from Hawthorne when he entered the program himself as a kid. “I remember the transformation of one of my kids from a soft-spoken, shy 14-year-old who now just graduated as an Air Force pararescueman, part of their Special Operations group. Which is pretty rad. I’ve seen kids who were JGs become teachers, firefighters, policemen —  you see it instill a lot of confidence in these kids because being able to overcome these physical challenges on a daily basis teaches them they can take on any challenge. They develop themselves and adjust on down the line.”

Carlson said 4,200 kids are participating in the LA County program this summer, including 1,000 Manhattan Beach residents (110 in the program in Manhattan Beach).

Fifth-year junior guard Kayla Pike said she pretty much hated the program for first three years. Now she can swim out to the pier “and even further” with ease, she said. And she finds herself doing something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago —  after JG training ends at 11:30 a.m. each morning, she heads home, grabs her surfboard, and comes right back to the ocean. Her 9-year-old-self, Kayla said, would have been repulsed by the very notion.

“She would say, ‘I would never do that,’” Kayla said. “Well, just wait a couple years.”

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