The 1978 L.A. County - Central Section Taplin Team Victory, by OLS John Thomas (Ret.) and Capt. Mike Cunningham (Ret.)

Photo courtesy of Adrian Crook.  That's Adrian leaping from the dory at the finish!

I stopped by CSHQ this afternoon and was loitering a bit when I saw the Taplin Bell Trophy (x-ref: Central Section Shout Out!) and remembered recently hearing the story of Central Section's victory back in 1978, esp. because it was a neck and neck battle with then perennial favorite, Zuma!  And so, I took a photo of the victorious team members' names that year of 1978 and asked John Thomas to recount the exciting story of his team's sweet first place finish.  I also lobbed an email off to a handful of the other guys on this team and got a great commentary from Mike Cunningham that is an absolute Classic!  Added bonus commentary and two great b/w photos are included as well courtesy of Assnt. Chief, Phil Topar (Ret.).

Photo shows the First Place Plaque that each team member received; Photo courtesy of Eric Shargo

Close up of team member names from Taplin Bell Trophy. Photo by Will Maguire

The 1978 L.A. County - Central Section Taplin Team Victory, by OLS John Thomas (Ret.) and Capt. Mike Cunningham (Ret.)

Per JT:

YEEEOWWWZA...... THAT WAS BACK WHEN RUDY COULD STILL PULL AN OAR WITH THE BEST OF THEM.... ERIC SHARGO, AKA SHARK, LED OFF FOR OUR SWIMMERS... WHO WERE ALL REALLY FAST!... FOLLOWED BY LES, SAMMY AND STEVE ANCHORING.  SHARK WAS OUT OF THE WATER 45 SEC. AHEAD OF THE NEXT SWIMMER AND THAT LEAD WAS EXTENDED FOR THE HAND OFF TO THE PADDLERS....

BILL MOUNT WAS THE FASTEST SPRINT PADDLER ON THE COAST WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MIKE STEVENSON, WHO WAS FASTER IN A SHORT SPRINT.... actually, there was a lot of discussion in those days who was the fastest paddler between Mount and Stevenson.... they were both incredibly fast... legendary fast. I really couldn't say who had the edge. it was amazing to watch them paddle. Never seen anything like it.

MARK THOMPSON AND I ROWED THE THIRD LEG. WE HAD A VERY FAST EXCHANGE AND GOT A GREAT PUSH OUT.  THE WIND HAD INCREASED A BIT DURING THE RACE BUT THE DRIFT WAS NEGLIGIBLE. THE SURF WAS MOSTLY SHOALING WHITE WATER, PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR A DEAD SPRINT TO THE BUOY.  THE SWIMMERS, PADDLERS, AND PREVIOUS DORY TEAMS HAD GIVEN US A HUGE LEAD ALREADY. WE WERE CONCENTRATING ON SLOWING DOWN A LITTLE BIT WHILE STILL SPRINTING TO HAVE A PERFECT STRAIGHT RUN OUT AND BACK.

WE HIT THE MARK DEAD ON, REVERSED LEFT AND PULLED HARD RIGHT AND SPUN THE BOAT RIGHT ON TOP OF THE BUOY, AND PULLED FOR THE BEACH.  WE CAUGHT A LITTLE SPILLING TWO FOOT WAVE AND MOTORED IN STRAIGHT. THAT MADE IT THREE PERFECT ROWS AND EXCHANGES. WE HANDED IT OFF TO PHIL TOPAR AND HIS PARTNER ADRIAN "SILVER TONGUE" CROOK.  THOSE BOYS COULD SPRINT WITH THE BEST TEAMS ON THE COAST.  CROOK MOUNTED UP WHILE THOMPSON SPRINTED UP TO TAG PHIL. I BEGAN PUSHING THE BOAT OUT WHILE PHIL BOUNDED INTO THE WATER AND LEAPED INTO THE BOAT. I JUMPED OVER THE INSHORE HOLE AND PUSHED THEM UNTIL I WAS IN NECK DEEP WATER. 

PHIL AND ADRIAN ROWED ANOTHER DEAD STRAIGHT COURSE AND IT LOOKED LIKE WE MIGHT LAP THE NEAREST TEAM.  PHIL AND ADRIAN SURFED THE BOAT IN AND ADRIAN RAN ACROSS THE LINE TO COMPLETE A DOMINATING VICTORY FOR THE TAPLIN BELL.  IT WAS A GREAT TEAM AND A GREAT TIME TO BE LIFEGUARDING!

---

Per Mike:

It was quite a year.  We knew we were good, but some of our swimmers were less than ocean specialists. Steve Baxter was one of my swim teammates at UCLA and had the fastest 100 yard butterfly in the world that season. Sam Stein was at USC and he was super fast,  Eric Shargo was at CSU Northridge and a good distance guy.  Jim Hester was our water polo holeman at UCLA and nicknamed "The Tree" because he was 6 foot 8 inches tall and guarding him was like guarding a tree... except no tree did backhand shots like he did.

Bill Mount was the defending one mile National Surf Lifesaving Association paddleboard champion, and Mike Stevenson was a 5 time NSLSA Iron Man and like the 8 time National Paddleboard champion.  Rudy Kroon just had to get on the Taplin Bell after a career of lifeguarding and his future son in law was Mike Eurs, our other paddler.  Phil Topar and Adrian Crook had been on the rowing circuit all season and were very fast and consistent.  Mark Thompson and John Thomas had been on our team at the Laguna Niguel Taplin and we won it there too.  Jim Doman was about as solid a oarsman as we had in the County.

I had made the swim team and the paddle, and had led off on the winning 1976 South Bay team in the swimming leg.  But it was felt we were strong enough in the swim, and I was needed more in the paddle.  So I paddled for the team.  I was so proud to compete on a team with Mike Stevenson and Bill Mount, legendary guys who I had always looked up to when I was a junior guard.

However, that year the Taplin was held right next to the Redondo Pier, and it was no more than a small shore pound.  Guys flew down the sand and just dove in.  No dolphining, or wave karma that night!  The bottom was steep and deep early.  Paddlers got righteous skims and just went off like it was a flat water race.  We led after the swim and never looked back. Paddlers got great railroads back in, but really no waves.   Dory teams went straight and true...no crashes or flips that I can remember.  Just a couple of near misses.

Unfortunately, for the rest of the teams we drew lane 1, right next to the pier.  If you know the Ainsworth area at all, there is a really deep area right there.  It's the beginning of the Redondo Canyon.  It goes from around 25 feet deep to about 100 feet in a sharp drop off.  Well, that's where they put the end anchor of the line of buoys... and ours never made it to the bottom it seemed.  The Baywatch tried to reset it twice.  Each leg, the distance changed a bit as the buoy drifted and waved in the current all night.

As in most Taplins, there is usually some controversy.  There were those who said our team did not have to go as far as their teams did, and we felt it drifted out further sometimes and we actually had to race longer.  Either way, at the end of the race, the 1978 Central Section team was the first to the beach, we raised our arms in victory and carried our dory all across the beach and screamed the cheer of victory.  It was the first of many victories for the newly formed Central Section and the first for most of the guys who had recently merged into the County from the LA City and Santa Monica agencies.  Screw em...we won it. 

-----

Story by & Copyright 2013 John Thomas. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.  Photo Courtesy of Will Maguire.

Story by & Copyright 2013 Mike Cunningham. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.

*** Many Thanks to John and Mike !  

***  Bonus Content ! ***   Wow!  Just in from Assnt. Chief, Phil Topar (Ret):

"I have attached two b/w pictures (not sure who to give the credit to) that commemorate this win for Central Section.  The race was on the South side of the Redondo Pier: no surf; deep inshore, lateral hole (one push for the stern man before hopping in); big swim lead.  Our swimmers gave us a lead we never gave back. I believe AC and I rowed the final lap as I remember being greeted by a huge bear hug from JT (John Thomas).  I had my 2 year-old son, Beau (now, 36 years old & a Deputy Sheriff for LACO) with me in my back pack.  I also remember getting grief from the other County teams saying we had the shorter buoy.... anyway, Will, keep spreading the word, and thanks for including me, Topy (Phil)"

And here is one more photo below which Adrian Crook shared with us and which is of the same group of guards immediately above and which shows John Thomas, Adrian and Jimmy Doman each signaling the "L.A. City Lifeguard" Solidarity hand gesture, reflecting their loyalty and pride even in 1978 (after the merger with LACo in 1975)... (index finger and pinky extended; fyi, 10-4, copy).

Topar P.S.:  "One more fact to add to this story.  The Taplin Bell has all the previous winners listed on plaques by year, as shown on the photo of our '78 Winning Team that you included at the top of this blog post.  It took me years to realize that Mickey Gallagher had removed my name and had replaced his name in place of mine.  I do not how many years Mickey's name was on the Taplin Bell without my knowledge, but I did rectify it when I found out....

---

(Two b/w photos courtesy of Phil Topar.  Topar commentary by & Copyright Phil Topar 2013. Used here with permission).

*** Thanks Phil!  Great prank by Gallagher too!  Hilarious!  We are also glad you rectified it so that the Taplin Bell rings true. ***

---

And Just in from Jim Hester who rowed with Steve Eslick as one of the 4 dory legs of this 1978 Victory Taplin Team:

“What a night that was! 1978 was my last summer guarding full time. Steve Eslick and I had been rowing that year so we had at least some skills built up in a dory. Our swimmers were fast, our paddlers were awesome and the dory crews rowed clean and straight. It was truly an honor to compete with such a great group of guys and our win that night made an unforgettable memory.”…..Jim Hester

---

*** Many Thanks to Jim Hester for sharing this great memory! ***

---

Until next time.....


"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

*****   *****   *****   *****   *****