International Surf Festival returns with beach fun
The International Surf Festival will return to the beach cities this week for its 59th year of competition.
The event will take place from today to Sunday, with Manhattan Beach acting as host city this year, though additional activities in the other beach cities also will take place. The festival is expected to attract thousands of participants and onlookers.
The festival will feature three signature events, the Judge Taplin Lifeguard Medley Relay, the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim and the Charlie Saikley Six-Man Volleyball Tournament. Besides that trio of events, there will also be surf and bodysurfing contests, sailing, a beach run, a paddleboard race, a dory race and youth competitions.
The Taplin relay race will take place around 9 p.m. Saturday on the north side of the Hermosa Beach Pier. At 7 p.m., the community can enjoy rescue demonstrations, junior lifeguard relays and the Chris Linkletter Women's Surf Relay.
The two-mile, pier-to-pier swim — one of the most popular long-distance races in the country — wil begin at 9 a.m. Sunday on 10th Street at the Hermosa Beach Pier and will finish on the sand near the Manhattan Beach Pier.
The six-man volleyball tournament will occur on Friday and Saturday on the beach near the Manhattan Beach Pier. Spirited revelry and costumes are part of the tradition. The tournament also includes a youth competition Sunday.
Recognizing accomplished lifeguards is another hallmark of the festival. This year's Medal of Valor Honoree is ocean lifeguard Nick Wapner, who in October provided life-saving first aid to an injured surfer while visiting Portugal.
Thirteen members of the
L.A. County Fire Department's Lifeguard Swiftwater Team, meanwhile, will receive the 2022 Distinguished Service Award. The team was called in December to Leo Carrillo State Beach, where a campground became dangerous because of flooding from a storm. About 50 victims were evacuated in what became the largest singlewater flood rescue in L.A. County history.
The recipients include ocean lifeguard specialists Ryan Ameche, Micah Carlson, Lauren Dale, Rebecca Gilman, Chris Maloney, Chris Newman, Travis Robinson and Tim Ryan; ocean lifeguard Capts. Ryan Addison, Tito Bourget, Patrick O'Neill and Remy Smith; and Marine Battalion Chief Olivier O'Connell.
Another group of lifeguards and a local nurse, Courtney Herron, will also receive a Distinguished Service Award for working together while off-duty one day in January to help a non-breathing, pulseless victim who was pulled from the water until Redondo Beach paramedics arrived on the scene.
The lifeguard recipients include Jared Sayers, lifeguard specialist Robert Baird and Capts. David Cartlidge, Arthur Lester and Christopher Staffield.
This year's Lifeguard Lifetime Achievement honoree is retired lifeguard section Chief Chris Linkletter, who is being honored for 36 years of service on beaches throughout the county.
For details about the award recipients and a full list of competitive events, go to surffestival.org.