On Friday, Aug. 7 at 4:30 p.m. the San Diego Junior Lifeguard Ocean Festival – Willie Calabrese Memorial Run will take place at 699 Ventura Place in Mission Beach. This event showcases the essential skills of endurance and open ocean swimming that Southern California beach lifeguards, watermen and water-women are renowned for across the globe.
The run portions of the race take place on the sand between the main lifeguard tower in Mission Beach near Ventura place and the historic Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach at the end of Garnet Avenue. Competitors will run along the sand to the pier, swim a marked course around it and return along the sand back to the finish line at the main lifeguard tower. The race will be chip-timed with categories to include age divisions for both men and women.
The Junior Lifeguard’s second Ocean Beach Pier jump will take place Aug. 17, and Hawaii Day will be on Aug. 19. According to the Center for Disease Control, drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for those 14 and under, and you can multiple that by four for children of color. The San Diego Junior Lifeguard Foundation believes drowning is preventable. The foundation’s Water Proofing San Diego Program reached more than 15,000 people last year though its three-pronged approach to aquatic safety, with free aquatic safety lectures, free swim lessons and a day at the beach for under-served youth.
The San Diego Junior Lifeguard Foundation also supports the City of San Diego’s Junior Lifeguard (JG) program with fund-raising, scholarships and equipment. One of the ways it does this is by providing a SCUBA experience for the older age group JGs (14 to 17 years old, aka “A” group).
At the Boys and Girls Club swimming pool in Clairemont, on Friday, June 26, more than 100 San Diego Junior Lifeguards participated in a PADI Discover Scuba Diving Program hosted by the San Diego Junior Lifeguard Foundation. Instructors from Ocean Enterprises took the students through an introductory course in SCUBA. Afterwards, students were introduced to the work of the San Diego Lifeguard Dive Team by lifeguard Brittany Rowe. There will be a second event on July 31 at the same location.
San Diego Junior Lifeguard Foundation’s mission is to promote aquatic safety education and drowning prevention in San Diego. For more information, visit www.sdjgfoundation.org.
