Roman Higgins
Roman Higgins of Santa Barbara positions himself to win a capture-the-flag competition Friday at East Beach as part of the city of Santa Barbara’s annual Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk photo)
  • Roman Higgins of Santa Barbara positions himself to win a capture-the-flag competition Friday at East Beach as part of the city of Santa Barbara’s annual Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition.
    Roman Higgins of Santa Barbara positions himself to win a capture-the-flag competition Friday at East Beach as part of the city of Santa Barbara’s annual Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition.
  • Girls’ run and swim competitors at the unior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition on Friday.
    Girls’ run and swim competitors at the unior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition on Friday.
  • Finalists for the girls’ capture the flag competition vie for position.
    Finalists for the girls’ capture the flag competition vie for position.
  • Action at Friday’s Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition.
    Action at Friday’s Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition.

For the first time since 2019, the city of Santa Barbara hosted its annual Junior Lifeguard Fiesta Invitational Competition on Friday. The festival was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid concerns.

Hundreds of kids competed in several events, including Distance Paddle, Distance Run, Distance Swim, Paddle Relay, Run-Swim-Run, Run Relay, Beach Flags and Taplin (swim, run, paddle).

The event was free and open to all California Surf Lifesaving Association (CSLSA) and United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) agencies.

— Noozhawk correspondent Dennis Moran can be reached at sports@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.