Kids are off and running for this year’s Junior Lifeguard season at Balboa Pier

Summer is officially here with the start of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards season.

A reported 1,416 kids turned out for the first day of the program near Balboa Pier on Tuesday to meet up with their new instructors and test their physical skills.

Junior lifeguards head off to their division tents during opening day of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard program at the Balboa Pier on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The seven-week program, which is divided into two sessions — morning and afternoon — is considered a rite of passage by many residents in Newport Beach and other nearby beach cities.

This year’s class was set to be the first in the city’s new junior lifeguard headquarters, but construction issues have delayed that opening until next year. City officials said this year’s program will continue to operate out of the same trailer it has for the last 39 years.

Junior lifeguards head off to their division tents during opening day of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard program at the Balboa Pier on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)