LACo Recurrent/Competitor-Rapper

One of these Lifeguards is also a Rapper !

(Photo by Will Maguire, August 2010. Used here with permission.)

Just in from "County Recurrent" Correspondent, Adam Sandler:
"FYI. Funny stuff. Lacola SRT member raps about free guava sample at Nationals."

You probably did not realize that one of LACo's finest, a No. Section Recurrent, is also a Rapper ! See and hear for yourself:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGWEyPbOZe0

Hope you enjoy this footage taken at the recent USLA Lifeguard Nationals held earlier this month of August in Huntington Beach, Calif. To learn more about the product which this rapper is so passionate about, check out the following link:

www.Guayaki.com



Apparently, we are also informed that this rapper goes by the professional rapper handle:

Lil' Shanny

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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 or Guayaki.

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Retired lifeguard Nick Steers still remembers the day...

In 1974, nudes made news at Venice Beach...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0815-then-20100815,0,2887874.story

Extract from L.A. Times story,

"Retired lifeguard Nick Steers still remembers the day he helped rescue an injured swimmer at Venice Beach while onlookers gathered around him.

"I'm on my hands and knees and I look around and all I see are crotches" and other private parts, he said. "Everyone was nude."

As he recalls, the injured swimmer was also devoid of a bathing suit..."

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Comments from the lifeguard gallery since this article and blog posting:

1. From Jeff McConnel:

Aloha Will,

I remember the spring of "74", I was fortunate enough to work Brooks or Thornton towers alot. I was interviewed by a midwest radio station while guarding at Brooks Tower one day and asked how I felt about all the nude sunbathing at Venice Beach. I told him that I didn't believe I could make an "official" comment, however I stated I didn't believe in it. I said, "if God wanted us to go nude we would have been born that way", with a very straight face! He thanked me and was shaking his head as he walked away somewhat perplexed.

As I recall, the whole nudity thing started when someone was arrested while bathing nude, and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct. When it was taken to court the judge ruled, "nude is not necessarily lewd" which rendered the law useless for mere nudity. It took till mid summer for the wheels of bureaucracy to churn out a new law....I enjoyed the time both officially and unofficially.

There was actually a rumor that I was seen on a day off with a lifeguard patch taped on my thigh while hanging out near Brooks Ave. with some of my friends. It couldn't have been me...I can hardly remember those times!!!!!

aloha jeff

2. From Don "Rosie" Rosenthal:

Will:

Guess who was the Lieutenant during the "nude beach" year. I have stories to tell.

Rosie

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Editor's note: The undersigned editor of this prestigious... blog, was coincidentally a rookie that summer of 1974 with the City of Santa Monica and later with the merger with L.A. County in July of that same summer of '74 and recalls walking down along the soft sand to Venice beach one day to see "the spectacle" at Brooks, Rose and the like... My recollection is, with a few exceptions, the nude bathers were mostly individuals who should have been dressed rather than in their birthday suits. Truthfully, it was a bit strange and a bit scary to walk through that territory as a bright eyed, naive rookie lifeguard raised on the mean streets of Pacific Palisades...

Until next time.....

Will Maguire, Editor
"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.

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Sunset at Tower #15

Every Picture Tells A Story...


(Photo by & Copyright Nick Steers 2010. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.)

Just in from LACo Capt., Nick Steers, Ret.:

Thursday, August 12, 2010:

"The scene was Thursday evening Santa Monica 15. The guard was glancing around before he started to gather his cones etc. Just before closing his station. He is a day to day recurrent Robert Schallert."

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Thanks Nick ! Great shot!


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.

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"Tour of Duty Run", by OLS Harry Varnas

Heads Up!

Just in from LACo OLS Harry Varnas:

"Hey Will , perhaps you can post this AP article. The event started today at the Santa Monica pier. I snapped this shot as the horse drawn Steamer1 passed our Dive1 truck. Harry"


(Photo by & Copyright Harry Varnas 2010. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.)

Posted at 10:24 AM on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010

The Associated Press

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Firefighters from two nations took off Thursday on a round-the-clock run from Southern California to New York in remembrance of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.......

***And here is the link to the full Assoc. Press article on this event!

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/12/2039118/fdny-and-other-firefighters-run.html


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.

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LACOLA Wins USLA Nationals!

UPDATE!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Just in from County Recurrent's freelance volunteer reporter, Adam Sandler.

Dateline: Huntington Beach, Calif., Saturday, August 7, 2010

"LACOLA won the overall (all age groups) again, and reclaimed the Open point score championship which Monmouth County, NJ won last year. LACOLA earned 812.5 total points, with Sussex, Delaware in second with 223.75 points and Monmouth County, New Jersey in third with 201.3 points.

Now the All American Team - comprised of the best of the best from agencies across the country with a hefty contingent of LACOLA guards - sets its sights on the Lifesaving World Championships - Rescue 2010 in Alexandria, Egypt. Ocean events will take place on Momoura Beach from October 2-17."

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And from the LACOLA Surf Racing Team:

"LACOLA had 6 out of the top 10 in BOTH the men's and women's Open events: special congrats to Allison Riddle, high point female with 68 points and to Brian Murphy, high point male with 53.5 points. Go to www.uslanationals.org to see the results for top 10 men and women, which included Taylor Spivey, Tracey Crothers, Renee Locarnini, Tandis Morgan, Diane Graner-Gallas, Anthony Vela, Tyler Morgan, Patrick Jacobson, Mike Murphy, and Micah Carlson. And we must also congratulate our many Masters competitors for their role in this win!" www.lacolasurfracing.org


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(Photo above of Brian Murphy finishing First in Men's Board Race by Adam Sandler. Used here with permission.)

One of Day 2's highlights was LACo's Brian Murphy's Victory in the Men's Open Paddleboard Race. Check out Adam Sandler's account of Brian's successful race:

"Brian Murphy really schooled the other guards Friday in the Open Mens Board Race final. As a paddler, I'm always in awe at how easy Brian makes it look. His cyborg-like paddling tempo belies a smooth, efficient style. And when he hits the beach, he looks like he still has lots of gas left in the tank. The 12 man race was comprised of eight LACOLA (including the formidable paddler AV), two Destin and two Aloha guards. Perhaps sensing the combined paddling prowess that was about to hit the water, King Neptune decided to lay the surf down right before the guys paddled out. Just moments before, a 4' set wave rocked the outside which everyone on the beach noticed. The gun was fired, the group got a good clean start, and the tight pack quickly knee paddled to the first buoy. Brian nailed the first right shoulder turn and began to pull away from the pack. It was a paddling conga-line for guards 3-12, with Brian three-four-plus board lengths ahead of the second paddler, Tom Trembath of Destin, as the pair approached the final turn. Brian right shouldered the turn and while on his knees quickly increased his lead to 25-30 yards, and growing. But just as it looked like Brian was going to hit the sand while the center of the pack was just rounding the final buoy, Neptune made his move: A set wave much like the one earlier grew on the outside, and that most of the paddlers caught. Some in the crowd on the beach opined that Brian was going to get passed by the wave riding contingent, and that there was a huge upset in the making. But Brian dug deep, kept his inhuman pace and without the aid of any surf -- it was as if he was paddling in a no man's land -- he hit the beach with the nearest competitor, Trembath just starting to negotiate the in-shore trough. (see pic). He crossed the finish line while the other guys' feet were still wet. I didn't set my watch, but I'm fairly sure Brian did the race well under 4 minutes."

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Additional Photos from Day #2:


















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Many Thanks to Adam Sandler for his commentary and photo of Brian Murphy's victory! All other photos by Will Maguire.

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 or the USLA or CSLSA.

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The 2010 Hermosa to Manhattan Pier 2 Pier Swim, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010

(Photo above by Adam Sandler. Used here with permission. Per Adam: "Lifeguards wait for the start of the Men's race of the Dwight Crum Pier to Pier Swim. The sailboat also waits for the start. It cruised alongside the swimmers to the MB Pier finish. Conditions were nice for both swimmers and various water craft alike.")


Heads up! We've got a first person/swimmer account of this prestigious annual two mile open water swim from Hermosa Beach Pier to Manhattan Beach Pier for you, along with some great photos!

So here ya go!

Text/Story by LACo O.L. Mike Gavola.

Text & Photos by O.L. Adam Sandler.

Per Adam Sandler: "A couple of pics (below) from the ISF Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim held Sunday at Hermosa: The clusterf..ks better-known as the Men's race start and the Women's race start. The Baywatch crew keeps an eye on the lead pack of the men as they pass the flags and right-shoulder the end of the HB Pier."





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"The 2010 Pier to Pier Swim", by Mike Gavola.

The morning of pier to pier was one of this summer’s better mornings. It was sunny with little to no wind. The waves at Hermosa were a lot smaller than I hoped for. I was hoping for some swell because I knew I would get an advantage going out through the surf.

It was my first pier to pier race and by far the largest number of competitors I competed against as more than a 1000 swimmers showed up. When the starting gun went off I did my thing using my lifeguarding skills to get in front of all the none ocean swimmers. As they where swimming I was still dolphining to put myself in a good position and sprinted toward the first buoy. I was top 20 to the buoy but knew I was done after that for I cannot swim distance. So I just started to draft off of people as the zoomed by me.

The Manhattan pier then soon showed up and I took off in a sprint for the finish. Luckily there was some swell in Manhattan and I caught a wave in, passing all the triathlon swimmers getting tossed by the waves. Once I finished I grabbed my t-shirt and bottle of water and started running back to Hermosa. The water was freezing that day as it made people drop like flies from the race on my run back, with lifeguards putting people in the thermal bags. I got to Hermosa to take a hot shower as I was freezing also, then grabbed my bike and went to work.

10-4, Mike

(Photo above shows Mike Gavola off duty on a recent fishing trip. Nice catch, Mike! Photo courtesy of Mike.)

"The 2010 Pier to Pier Swim", by Mike Gavola. Copyright 2010 Mike Gavola. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission. Do not reproduce without permission.


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Many Thanks to both Adam and Mike for sharing their photos and comments with all of us.

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.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

2010 USLA Lifeguard Nationals: "It's Surf City Baby!"

Poster Art Back-story, courtesy of Adam Sandler of Face Time Media:

Poster Designer is Jenn Crawford (design director for FrenchCraft Leather, LA, CA), with input from Chris Maas (Exec. V.P. for FrenchCraft Leather, LA, CA) , State Lifeguard Jerry Hernandez and Huntington State Beach Lifeguard Association president and Nationals event coordinator Craig Lumb.

Says Lumb: "As a host, my goal is to have an inviting poster that captures the host location and at the same time provides an inspiring point of view. I didn't want to establish any type of rivalry or put down on any other geographical location when designing it.

With this in mind, we decided to promote the host community without placing a negative on any other previous or future host and that is where 'Surf City' came into play. Being competitive and sports minded, I tossed in the 'baby!' with Dick Vitale in mind.

A few days later, I was thinking about the poster and thought that it was missing a closing statement. I wanted to wrap up the 'baby!' at the top with something else. This is when I thought to highlight the fact that not only is it 'Surf City,' it's also where the saving of lives is the most amongst any other agency in the nation. To be proud, I thought if you want to be a lifeguard and one of the best in the country in Huntington Beach, "You better go early baby" because the ocean conditions in HB are most often complex.

Again with Vitale in mind, I did think along the lines of: If you are a Huntington State Beach lifeguard you are a Prime Time Player (PTP) when it comes to saving lives.

This is a competition and may not be recognized as a sport, but has not only the features of an 'athlete' but an 'athlete' who maintains their physical ability and uses it to save lives. That's what we do."

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