Zuma Beach teams place third in intense Intercrew and Taplin relays; heroic efforts recognized in medal of valor dinner
Malibu junior and senior lifeguards took home trophies at this year’s International Surf Festival (ISF). They were among hundreds of lifeguards who competed in water sport races and relays over the weekend in Redondo Beach for the 60th ISF.
In the prestigious Intercrew relay, a lifeguarding skills medley relay that includes running, swimming, paddling, and rowing, the Zuma senior (18 and over) guards placed an impressive third. Los Angeles County lifeguard Holly Maine, who was on a winning crew last year as well, explained that she and her coed team competed against the best lifeguards in Southern California and beyond.
“That’s basically our local, LA County-only version of Taplin [a lifeguarding relay],” Maine said. “It’s pretty much the same as the Taplin relay expect it has a surf ski (long 19-foot ocean kayak basically) leg of the race and it is every beach in LA County against the other. So, Zuma, Will Rogers, Santa Monica, Venice, Dockweiler, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, Torrance.
“And then we also placed third in our big Taplin relay on Saturday,” she continued. “For Taplin, (named after the late lifeguard and judge Irvin Taplin) all of the LA County teams get to form super teams within their sections so Will Rogers, Santa Monica, and Venice get to pick the best people from all of their beaches in ‘Central section’ and Dockweiler, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, Torrance get to do the same thing and are then racing as ‘Southern Section.’ But for Zuma, we are at a bit of a disadvantage there because we are really the only beach in ‘Northern section’ so our team stays the same while all of these other sections get to choose the best of the best from multiple beaches. And on Taplin night we also race against other teams in California like Long Beach lifeguards, Cal State lifeguards, San Clemente lifeguards, Laguna Beach lifeguards, and this year we competed against an Australian team from Half Moon Bay Australia (Melbourne area).”
Manhattan Beach (first), and Australia (second) finished ahead of the Zuma Beach team.
That’s an impressive finish for Zuma, according to Greg Bonnan, an LACO lifeguard of 54 years, who explained Australia is tough to beat.
“They’re all great water men and water women,” he said. “Their culture is fabulous. We have 30 million people in California and there are 25 million people in all of Australia and they still do really, really well even though they have far fewer people to draw from.”
Bonnan, who co-created, wrote, directed, and produced the hit TV series “Baywatch,” is also a junior lifeguard instructor. His teams from Zuma Beach Junior Lifeguards placed third in the all-girls Taplin event and third in the coed Taplin event.
“It was a pleasure to be in that competition,” he said. “It’s hard to run and very hard to organize. It’s like organized chaos and they pull it off down there at Hermosa and Redondo Beach.”
The ISF also includes volleyball, pier-to-pier swims, dory races, surf/ski races, paddleboard races, Ironman competitions and more. The weekend kicked off with a Medal of Valor dinner last Wednesday. This year’s honorees were LACO Ocean Lifeguard Specialist Sam O’Hare, who was working at a secluded beach in San Pedro in March when shots rang out. His heroism saved lives as he rushed to the scene of the shooting and began initial treatment on multiple victims of gunshot wounds. The other honoree, Ocean Lifeguard Captain Gevorg Akopyan, was off duty at Venice Beach in February yet jumped into action to thwart a kidnapping attempt by an erratic assailant.