San Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguard Sgt. Jon Vipond arrived at the Ocean Beach lifeguard Station early on Nov. 28, 2009, completely unaware that he was about to be called to a rescue that would earn him and three other lifeguards a rarely endowed distinction — the national Medal of Valor. “The four of us just happened to be where we were needed most,” Vipond said. The highest waves that day were estimated to be 20-feet-tall and the water was 62 degrees, according to a statement released by the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA), which awarded the medals. Vipond and lifeguards Mark Feighan, Daryl McDonald and Peter Liebig answered the call to rescue six people from drowning after their 29-foot sportfishing vessel, the Defiance, capsized in the Mission Bay Channel at about 8 a.m. Feighan and McDonald arrived at the scene first from the Mission Bay Lifeguard Headquarters on a 22-foot Boston Whaler called Rescue 6. The lifeguards found five victims in the water and one who was able to swim to the jetty. McDonald immediately jumped into the water and swam to one of the struggling victims, Steven Sanford. Sanford, 25, recalled that while he was submerged in the water he gave one last kick, which brought him to the surface — where he was convinced he had taken his last breath. His life flashed before his eyes, he said. Feighan, trying to avoid a crashing wave, turned Rescue 6 in an evasive maneuver. At that point, he said he saw Vipond approaching from the south. Feighan picked Vipond up while McDonald swam to Sanford. “I remember climbing over the south channel jetty, jumping into the channel and seeing Mark Feighan coming toward me full speed in the rescue boat,” Vipond said. “I remember him yelling ‘Get in, get in, get in, Jon, there are victims everywhere!’” Those are the last words Vipond recalls the guards saying until the ordeal was over. The two guards then picked up Liebig, a lifeguard who had arrived from Mission Beach, on the opposite side of the channel before motoring back to the capsized boat, Vipond said. “We each saw what needed to be done,” Vipond said. “Everything after that was pure training and instinct.” Vipond admits he had a moment of fear after meeting up with Feighan and arriving at the wreck, but once he saw the wreck and the victims, his head cleared and his thoughts were in the moment. “I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s Daryl McDonald with a victim. There’s another one in the water; P.J.’s [Liebig] got him. There’s two hanging onto the jetty. There’s two more on the hull; I’ll get those two.’” Vipond swam after the two men on the hull of the capsized boat. Meanwhile, McDonald swam Sanford — his semi-conscious victim — to Rescue 6, where Feighan was waiting to help hoist the victim onto the boat. However, an approaching 10-foot wave forced McDonald back to the helm of the boat to drive them out of the way of the crashing wave, forcing Feighan to hoist Sanford into the boat in one robust move. Feighan helped hoist one of Vipond’s victims onto the boat while McDonald did yet another evasive maneuver to avoid the next crashing wave. On McDonald’s next approach, the team was able to lift Liebig’s victim onto the boat. However, McDonald was forced to drive away again to avoid capsizing in the large surf, according to the USLA?statement. The team made what would be their final approach and hoisted Vipond’s second victim onto the boat just as a 20-foot wave was approaching. Vipond was unable to board the boat in time. McDonald was forced to drive away again while Feighan laid across the four victims — the ones unable to get to the jetty — so they would not fall into the water. Rescue 6 rushed the four victims to ambulances, which were waiting at the Mission Bay headquarters. Vipond, meanwhile, joined Liebig near the south jetty close to the two remaining victims, who were then rushed on a rescue board to ambulances across the San Diego River. B. Chris Brewster, president of the USLA, publicly honored the four lifeguards with the national Medal of Valor during a presentation at Mission Bay’s Hospitality Point on Oct. 13. “I’m really proud of them because they deserve this award and more awards,” Sanford said. Large surf and a capsized vessel made for a “perfect storm of rescues,” McDonald said. The Medal of Valor has only been awarded to 32 lifeguards nationwide since 1987. “We give out less than two [Medals of Valor] a year,” Brewster said. He said it was miracle no lifeguards were injured during the rescue. He also noted that had even one circumstance leading up to the rescue been different — for example, Vipond not arriving at work early that day — “the outcome would not be the same.” “Among San Diego lifeguards, among professional lifeguards anywhere, there is nothing exceptional about any of the four of us,” Vipond said. “We are honored to be recognized by our peers at this level and I hope we can continue to well-represent the lifeguard profession.” Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego Fire Chief Javier Mainar and Lifeguard Chief Rick Wurts joined Brewster in the presentation. “These four men are truly heroes and they’ve done the rest of their city proud,” Sanders said. Mainar said that when he heard of the rescue, it tugged at his heartstrings, adding that public safety is truly a team effort. “They didn’t shirk from the [dangerous rescue],” Wurts said. “They stood in the pocket and then delivered.”