405 South to Huntington Beach... at 0700 hrs. Note the smoky skies from the "Sand Fire" in Santa Clarita...
Beach Blvd. in Huntington Beach...
Detoured to Main St. to find a donut shop... no luck.....
Back on PCH, now southbound... we spot a familiar dory!
Follow that dory!...
Definitely the right place!...
Upon our arrival on the berm, the the women's 2 mile beach run was finishing and the men's 2 mile run was just about to start...
..... followed by the pre-race staging area for all entrants in the men's open surf swim...
Competitors on their way to the starting line for the men's open surf swim...
Below, LACo OL/Capt. (Ret.), Jimmy Makuta (aka, Maui Jim)
*** Video Alert ! ***
The Start of the Men's Open Surf Swim: The Video
https://youtu.be/0SGTaPkN2xg
*** Video Alert ! ***
Reconn At Waters Edge + Paddleboarders Warm Up: The Video
https://youtu.be/u2ZugM3hEto
and here comes the first group of swimmers...
The first two finishers catch the same shorebreak and its a sprint to the finish line!...
Aaron Piersol of Newport Beach finishing in the top five.....
Someone pointing out Hawaii Ocean Lifeguard/World Body Surf Champ/DaFin Exec., Mark Cunningham below in white t-shirt and hat watching the finish of the men's open surf swim race...
Men's Open Surf Swim; The Finish: The Video
https://youtu.be/-_PvuFmsxSc
meanwhile, some of the attendees and competitors took a body surfing break...
Next is a very interesting shot because it shows the start of the Men's International Ironman (run-paddle-surfski) with all of the competitors except 5 electing to run to the south before entering the water because of the hoovering left to right lateral current!...
*** Video Alert ! ***
International Ironman Competitors' Racing Paddleboards: The Video
https://youtu.be/e8Wkwq92dDM
Interesting Factoid: Going into the final segment, the surfski, the three Fink brothers were in First, Second and Fourth position!...
Below, LACo OL, Kevin Fink, finishing in First Place!...
Due to the fog which covered up the flags and buoys, the ocean races were delayed and the decision made to run the "beach flags" events and hoping that the fog would burn off...
Below, three LACo Lifeguard Legends chat in the shad, with a cameo at right by U.S. Gold Medal Swimmer/Newport Beach Ocean Lifeguard, Aaron Piersol, happens to be walking by..... True Story!...
LACo OL, Pat Jacobson, wins the men's open beach flags!...
Age Group Beach Flag pre-comp. pow-wow...
Final Three in the women's open beach flags about to start below...
*** Video Alert ! ***
The Finals of the Women's Open Beach Flags: The Video
https://youtu.be/RMpo3Eg4J1o
Below, sample shot out to sea.... buoys and flags still not visible but it is burning off just a bit...
back at the berm..... competitors and spectators mingle and grab shade...
LACo OL, Pat Jacobson, packs it in after competing in three events, the open surf swim, the International Ironman (top 5 finish), plus the open beach flags (Numero Uno)...
The skies finally cleared in the early afternoon and so... then it was time for the men's age group surf swim.....
Below, just to the right of center frame is veteran LACo OL/Phd, Mike O'Donnell, with his right hand up calling out his top five finish to come... (speculation here by the undersigned...).
*** Video Alert ! ***
What Lateral Current?...: The Video
https://youtu.be/qpMO-tiaJnE
note: the lateral current from left to right was absolutely stunning in how powerful it was... All of the swimmers ended up past the first white flag and had to swim back to it!... After that it was a freight train to the finish, however...
Below, at middle of frame in the background the first swimmer appears.....
... and its Laguna Beach veteran lifeguard, Scott Diederich!...
Below, true to his word, O'Donnell finishes third overall and first in his 55 - 59 division (thanks to Adam Sandler for the stats!)...
..... and on the heels of the age group men's surf swim is the younger age group men's surf swim which was started once the previous race's swimmers had rounded the first flag. In the masters division (we think), first out of the water is none other than LACo OLS, Jeff Hart!...
Next event on the schedule was the women's open surf swim.....
*** Video Alert ! ***
The Start of the Women's Open Surf Swim: The Video
https://youtu.be/wIwgsgZNy_c
*** Video Alert ! ***
Sneaking Up On Alison Riddle Davenport: The Video
https://youtu.be/cAV0ivd7reM
note: Just as Alison was reaching out to grab her finisher's stick, her peripheral vision picked up on the female competitor trying to sneak up on her and grab her stick. Alison was having none of that and quickly grabbed it! Below are a couple of screen grabs, though a bit blurred, yet they capture the moment of the failed stick grab by the other competitor.
... as the women were finishing their swim on one race course, the men's 3-man paddleboard relay was happening on the other course.....
*** Video Alert ! ***
3-Man Paddleboard Relay; The Finish: The Video
https://youtu.be/viTgs0lvoOY
next up on the men's schedule, the open surfski race.....
pre-race pow-wow..... during which time the event's, "Men's Course Head Official", Adam Sandler, explained to the competitors that he had decided/opted for a Surfski land start (rather than in knee deep water) and land finish for safety reasons due to the conditions (with the pounding shorebreak, etc).
we slipped back to grab something and they started the race!...
*** Video Alert ! ***
Men's Surfski Race; In the Surfline: The Video
https://youtu.be/A8tGwfTVK6I
------
... and then we packed it in, skipping the dory boat races, the run-swim-run, etc. et al... and began what turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour drive to San Diego...
Check out Crystal Cove!... Wow!...
slow going thru Dana Point, thought of Phil Topar, retired and living the good life, and gave him a salute with one of the fingers on my right hand and kept driving..... :-)
... with our destination being the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con... but that is another story for another day for another blog.....
===
Postscript:
2016 California Surf Lifesaving Regional Competition Final results:
A. Chapter Totals:
1 California State Lifeguard Assoc 1754.250
2 LA County Surf Life Saving Assoc 712.625
3 Los Angeles County Lakes Lifeguard Assoc 111.125
4 Long Beach Lifeguard Assoc CA 57.500
5 Newport Beach Ocean Lifeguard Assoc 33.000
6 Unattached 12.500
B. Chapter Totals:
1 Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assoc 497.000
2 Santa Barbara Lifeguard Assoc 141.500
3 County Of Orange Lifesaving Assoc 61.500
4 Los Angeles City Lifeguard Assoc 43.125
5 Santa Cruz Surf Lifesaving Assoc 39.500
6 Coronado Beach Lifeguards 31.000
7 Seal Beach Lifeguard Assoc 20.875
Individual Open Points Women Top 10
1 Renae Jackson California State Lifeguard Assoc 93.500
2 Christina Boring California State Lifeguard Assoc 89.500
3 Audrey Neilan California State Lifeguard Assoc 79.000
4 Emily Neilan California State Lifeguard Assoc 62.250
5 Ally McCormick Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assoc 61.000
6 Shannon Snell California State Lifeguard Assoc 60.250
7 Laurel Kistler California State Lifeguard Assoc 59.500
8 Kelsey O'Donnell LA County Surf Life Saving Assoc 59.125
9 Sara Davis Kennedy California State Lifeguard Assoc 53.500
10 Jenna Solberg LA County Surf Life Saving Assoc 45.125
Individual Open Points Men Top 10
1 Shane Scoggins California State Lifeguard Assoc 90.750
2 Ben Brewer Santa Barbara Lifeguard Assoc 66.875
3 Kevin Fink LA County Surf Life Saving Assoc 66.000
4 Cameron Zuziak Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assoc 57.375
5 David Buckalew California State Lifeguard Assoc 56.250
6 Porter Hogan Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assoc 44.875
7 Isaac DeSoto California State Lifeguard Assoc 44.250
8 Benjamin Tran California State Lifeguard Assoc 43.750
9 Killian Rose California State Lifeguard Assoc 43.250
10 G. William Abele, Jr. California State Lifeguard Assoc 41.000
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10-4
Until next time.....
"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com
(All photos and videos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2016.)
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