Santa Barbara’s Ben Brewer won a bronze medal at the World Lifesaving Championships in the Netherlands last week.
Brewer, competing for the United States Lifesaving Association Youth Team, finished third in the surf swim. Toby Wilson of Australia won the gold medal and Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand took the silver.
Brewer also placed fourth in the Oceanman events, which consists of a paddle, surf ski and swim in the North Sea.
The World Lifesaving Championships draw teams of lifeguards and open water rescuers from more than 20 countries for competitions in the ocean and pool. The ocean events took place in the coastal city of Noordwijk and the pool action was in Eindhoven.
This is the second time Brewer has represented the U.S. at the World Championships. He was on the USLA youth national team at the 2014 championships in Montpellier, France.
Brewer, 19, swam for the Santa Barbara Swim Club and Santa Barbara High and has been part of the Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguards program since he was 9. He is now an instructor for the program at East Beach.
Once he returns from Netherlands, Brewer will head off to college at Cal Lutheran.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.