Hundreds of junior lifeguards representing organizations from Avila to Newport Beach took over Santa Barbara’s East Beach on a warm Friday afternoon to compete in the annual Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational.
The host Santa Barbara City Junior Lifeguards won the team competition with 827 points, Carpinteria came in second place with 379 points and Avila Beach was third with 340. The other junior lifeguard agencies in the field were UCSB Campus Point, Newport Beach, Ventura State Beach, Refugio State Beach, Oceano Dunes State Beach, Hendry’s Beach, Pismo State Beach and Port Hueneme.
The organizations fielded competitors in A (ages 14-17), B (12-13) and C (9-11) Divisions. They racked up points in events like the distance paddle, distance run, distance swim, paddle relay, run-swim-run, run relay, beach flags, and taplin (swim, run, paddle).
The final event of day — in homage to Fiesta — was the sombrero relay, which featured teams of eight junior lifeguard instructors doing an up-and-back sprint while holding a sombrero on their head and then handing it off to the next runner until all members of the team finished.
Friday’s competition was the last one before the California Surf Lifesaving Junior Guard Regional Championships, which take place next Friday and Saturday (July 21-22) at Newport Beach.
“This is one week before regionals, so a lot of agencies showed up,” said a pleased Zane Booth who co-ran the Fiesta Invitational with fellow Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguards directors Alex Szymczak and Brittney Gamble. “We’re getting the practice in now of having all these junior guards race before next week.”
This was the event’s second year back after it was canceled in 2021 and 2020 due to the pandemic.
“It’s been really successful. We’ve had tons of great racing, great sportsmanship; tons of age groups showed up which was super, super awesome,” said Booth, who is an elite-level lifeguard competition athlete. He won a gold medal at the U.S. Lifesaving National Championships in Hermosa Beach last summer. In 2019, he and Gamble were part of a local quartet (Andrea Bish and Jake Ballantine were the other teammates) that took first in the U19 Rescue Relay at the CSLA Championships in Carpinteria.
Booth also has competed in international lifeguard competitions.
“I’ve been lifeguard racing since I was a “B” here with Santa Barbara Junior Guards; I was 12 and I’m 22 now,” said the Dos Pueblos High alum. “It’s become a huge part of my life. Nothing makes me happier than coming down here and promoting surf lifesaving and all these agencies just showing the community what a great program this is and what a great sport it is.”
The Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguards program is the area’s longest-running program, operating since 1971, and serves hundreds of local youth each summer.