North from Baja to save lives, teach

Andrew Edwards

Freddy Marquez grabbed his swim flippers and lifeguard’s buoy and

quickly scrambled down from the lifeguard tower.

He ran to the water and swam out to recover Javier Alba, who was

drifting in the ocean currents.

Marquez swam over to Alba and slipped the buoy around him. When

Alba was secured, Marquez backstroked back to the shoreline, having

completed the last test of his lifeguard training.

“Really solid performance Freddy. Good job,” lifeguard trainer

Eric Dymmel said after evaluating Marquez’s work. When he was done,

Marquez played the victim and it was Alba’s turn to make a save.

On Tuesday, the final day of lifeguard training at Huntington

State Beach, there were more than 20 perspective lifeguards still in

the running.

Trainers teach lifesaving skills to prospective lifeguards seeking

work at beaches all over California. But Marquez and Alba don’t want

to work this far north.

Both men hail from Cabo San Lucas, where Marquez is a firefighter

and Alba works as a paramedic. They beat out 30 others to head north

of the border and train with California lifeguards so they can pass

the lessons they have learned on to Mexican lifesaving agencies.

In Mexico, lifeguards are often only employed by private hotels.

Their training lags behind their counterparts in the United States,

Vasquez said.

“The lifeguards over there, they don’t have the experience, they

don’t take the training seriously,” Vasquez said through an

interpreter. “The intent has always been ... to come and learn the

skill and go back to Cabo and teach others.”

Alba said he planned to teach lifeguard techniques to his fellow

firefighters and work with Mexican lifeguards to enhance their

skills.

The pair arrived in the United States on Monday to begin eight

days of training. They practiced running, swimming, CPR and

lifesaving skills 12 hours a day.

“In conditioning, it’s been really, really hard,” Vasquez said,

adding that it was also fun.

What sets Surf City apart from the sunny shores of Cabo San Lucas,

the pair agreed, is the chill in the ocean.

“[In Cabo San Lucas] it’s more hot. And here, here its more cold,”

Vasquez said with an exaggerated shiver.

The pair have impressed their trainers throughout the sessions

Dymmel said, with their “terrific attitude” and willingness to listen

to their instructors. Dymmel said he was excited the two could make a

difference on the beaches when they get back to their homeland.

“As a trainer, that’s a great feeling, to know that somewhere else

in the world someone’s life may be saved,” he said.