Surf Festival brings back beach competitions
Annual event, returning after two years due to pandemic, also gives accolades to life savers
The International Surf Festival is back on after a pandemic hiatus last year, with a weekend filled with events for the 58th annual celebration.
This year’s host city is Torrance, with events in all four South Bay beach cities that are expected to attract thousands of participants ranging from ages 8 to 80.
The festival’s three signature events are the Judge Taplin Lifeguard Medley Relay, the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim and the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Volleyball Tournament, and the weekend also includes a surf contest, a bodysurfing contest, a beach run, a paddleboard race, a dory race and youth events.
The Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim is one of the most popular long distance swims in the country, with more than 1,200 swimmers doing the 2-mile course in 2019. It starts at the Hermosa
Beach Pier, laps around the Manhattan Beach Pier and finishes on the beach.
The festivities kicked off earlier in the week with the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Medal of Valor award ceremony at the King Harbor Yacht Club on Wednesday, honoring lifesavers who went above the call of duty.
This year’s theme was “Protectors of the Coast and Public,” with the Medal of Valor, two Distinguished Service Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award presented.
The Medal of Valor went to
Avalon Harbor Patrol Officer William Flickinger, who on Sept. 24 helped a fellow officer trapped under water beneath his capsized patrol boat with the engine running and it spinning in circles out of control while in reverse.
Flickinger, fully clothed, jumped into the water, dove under the spinning boat and pulled out the unconscious man, a description reads.
The Distinguished Service Award was given to the 70-member team of the L.A. County Fire Department’s Ocean Lifeguards who helped at COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites, assisting L.A. County Department of Public Health efforts to control the pandemic.
For more than 15 months, 70 ocean lifeguards staffed numerous testing and vaccination sites available to the public throughout the county, from Pomona to Inglewood.
“Their many years of dealing with emergency situations — including medical responses, combined with daily interactions with the public at the beach and their ability to work and solve problems on their own — were all major assets in the COVID-19 response efforts,” the award’s description said. “As a result, the lifeguards unequivocally demonstrated that without their unique and professional skill set, the overall response by L.A. County would not have been as successful as it was.”
A Distinguished Service Award was also presented to the L.A. County Department of Beach and Harbors staff, who are tasked with ensuring “the 55 million annual beach visitors find a safe and welcoming environment,” the award announcement said.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Rob McGowan, with the department for 40 years before retiring in 2009. He is now the the International Surf Festival president.
“His philanthropic work continues with groups whose mission it is to promote beach and water safety, protect the coast, mentor the next generation of lifeguards and maintain high standards for the professional ocean lifeguard,” the release said.
For a full schedule or list of events, go to surffestival. org.