Lifeguards first learn to crawl

Lindsay Sandham

Hundreds of local kids lined up Sunday outside the gates of Newport

Harbor High School’s swimming pool with their parents, nervously

waiting to take a swimming test.

Passing the test is a requirement to register for the city of

Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard summer program.

“The whole purpose of the program is to teach boys and girls, ages

9 through 15, ocean safety,” said Reenie Boyer, lifeguard captain for

the city of Newport Beach.

The kids must pass the standard swim test, which consists of

swimming 100 yards and treading water for three minutes.

“We have seven swim tests, and they can come back all seven

times,” Boyer said.

Excited and nervous parents lined the swimming pool borders,

cheering on their kids as they swam.

“Use your kickers!” Deanne MacInnes shouted encouragingly at her

9-year-old son, Andrew.

MacInnes’ 12-year-old daughter, Catherine, participated in the

program last summer and loved it.

“The whole program is really well-run, well-organized, a great

experience for the kids, and they’re learning something about

safety,” MacInnes said.

Andrew finished his laps, and his mother looked over to see the

lifeguard gently patting him on the back.

“Uh-oh. I don’t think he made it,” she said. “But you know what,

it’s his first try, and you get several tries.”

Boyer said that although they don’t like to turn kids away from

the program, passing the swimming standard is required for safety

reasons.

“We have to know that the children have that basic swimming

ability before they go in the ocean,” she said. “Safety has to be the

first priority.”

The program’s focus on safety and ocean basics is why several

parents enroll their kids.

“I grew up in Ohio, not near an ocean,” said Marie Gentosi, whose

two children -- Michaela, 11, and Giovanni, 8 -- passed the tryouts.

“I don’t have the knowledge to tell them about rip currents and all

the things they need to know.”

Eleven-year-old Katherine Fox also passed and is registering in

the program for her third time this year.

“I love it,” she said.

Robin Jacobsen was one of 37 lifeguards working at the tryouts.

She started off as a junior lifeguard 22 years ago, in the first year

of the program.

“There was 75 of us in the very first program,” she said. “Now we

have 1,200. Newport’s changed a lot, and the program’s changed a lot,

always for the better.”

Jacobsen is one of the guards in charge of encouraging kids who

don’t pass the swim test.

“We just kind of talk to them about things that might help them to

make it the next time,” she said. “By talking to them, we feel as

though we’re giving the best service we can.”

Tryouts will be held six more times at the Newport Harbor High

School swimming pool. For dates, times and more information, call

(949) 675-8420 or visit https://newportlifeguard.org.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM is the news assistant. She may be reached at

(714) 966-4625.