Seal Beach will host the California Junior and Senior Lifeguard competition on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23.
Seal Beach was a last-minute selection, according to Marine Safety (lifeguard) Department Chief Joe Bailey.
The California Surf Lifesaving Association had originally selected another location for the annual event.
“The planned venue fell thru at the last minute and since we did such a nice job in 2008 and 2009, they asked us to step in,” Bailey said in his weekly report to the city manager.
“On Friday, July 22 we will be hosting the Junior Lifeguard Regional Competition. The competition will start at 9 a.m. and will finish at 4 p.m. We are expecting to have between 2,000 and 2,800 competitor’s ages 9 to 17, from beaches all over California. The events include distance run, distance swim, distance paddle, a number of different relays and beach flags,” Bailey wrote.
“On Saturday, July 23 we will be hosting the Lifeguard Regional Competition. The competition will start at 9 a.m. and will finish at 5 p.m. We are expecting to have 150 to 200 lifeguard competitors ages 18 to 60, from beaches all over California. The lifeguard competition has some interesting events including a surf boat race and a rope line rescue race,” Bailey wrote.
