This clutch of celebrants doesn’t come close to the numbers that gather for the La Jolla Rough Water Swim these days (participants total around 2,000 now, making this a signature annual Village event). Then again, the year was 1945, and the area’s thoughts may have been elsewhere amid the wartime mindset. The 84th swim, ranked No. 3 among the nation’s 50 open-water swims by openwaterswimming.com, will take place Sunday, Sept. 13, following a year’s layoff due to nearby construction. The swim began in 1916, when seven men thought they’d swim about two miles and back in La Jolla Cove. Today, men, women and kids compete in five events along courses of 250 yards, one mile and three miles. Costs are underwritten by donations to the nonprofit LJRWS Foundation. For more, see ljrws..com. PHOTO COURTESY LA JOLLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY