Junior lifeguards hit the waves in Newport Beach as season kicks off

With school out and summer in swing, kids from all over Newport Beach hit the sands early Tuesday morning for the start of the junior lifeguard season.

About 1,400 youngsters are enrolled in two sessions, with dozens of instructors teaching them about ocean and water safety. The program, which started in 1984 with founder and former lifeguard Reenie Boyer, is celebrating its 40th anniversary — an occasion marked by the opening of the Junior Lifeguards’ headquarters earlier this month.

Instructor Finley Munchoff smiles as she is introduced on day one of the Newport Beach junior lifeguards season at their new facility on at the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard headquarters next to the Balboa Pier on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The 5,400-square-foot facility replaces the trailer that the program previously operated out of near Balboa Pier.

This year’s program will wrap in early August. In addition to regular lessons, an Iron Man competition is scheduled for July 13, and the famed “Monster Mile” is planned for July 25.

A team of junior guards in matching shirts waits for assignments on day one of the Newport Beach junior lifeguards season at the new facility on at the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard headquarters next to the Balboa Pier on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)