Hundreds of aspiring lifeguards, including many from Santa Monica, took to the sand between Towers 50 and 51 at Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey on Friday morning. They were there to represent their respective programs in the annual Taplin Relays—the premiere Junior Lifeguard competition of the summer.
The "sea of colors" consisted of teams from 12 Southland beaches facing off for the coveted Taplin Bell in four age divisions (C, B, A girls and A). Each team consisted of 18 guards: six runners, six paddlers and six swimmers.
The participating programs were Santa Monica, Zuma (Malibu), Will Rogers (Pacific Palisades), Venice, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Tim Kelly (South Hermosa), Redondo, Torrance, Cabrillo (San Pedro) and Avalon (Catalina).
Several beaches like Manhattan, Redondo, Hermosa, Will Rogers and El Segundo, had three or more teams competing in each division, while others like Santa Monica, Zuma, Cabrillo and Avalon, brought only one.
Santa Monica was eighth in the "C" division, 12th in the "B" division and ninth in the "A" division.
The competition began with the "C's" (ages 9-11) at 9 a.m., followed by the "B's" (ages 12-13) at 10 a.m., the Girls "A's" (consisting of only two runners, two paddlers and two swimmers) at 11 a.m. and the Co-Ed "A's" (ages 14-17) competition was held last, a little before noon.
"I think this is the best we've ever done," Santa Monica head instructor Max Dean said after spurring his C team to eighth place. "We're much smaller compared to most of the other beaches. We only have around 100 kids in our whole program, so for us to finish that high is great."
The competition began with the runners, who sprinted across the sand, around a cone and back again before handing the baton to a teammate. The last runner ran to the edge of the water and tagged the first paddler, who proceeded into the ocean on his/her surfboard, paddled around three designated buoys, and body-boarded back to shore to hand off to the next paddler. The last phase of the race was the swimmers, who ran parallel to the water, around a flag and dove into the water for a swim around the buoys and back to the beach.
"This is the most fun because of the team aspect and every year you want to win," said 15-year-old Tori Scribner, a runner on Will Rogers' "A" team who lives in Santa Monica and attends Lighthouse Christian Academy.
Each team was given a "color" designation (Santa Monica was gold) and a banner and the team that got all of its swimmers through the finishing chute on the beach first was declared the winner. Participants formed "Tunnels of Love" at the end of each race to cheer on the last finisher on the last team in a unified display of sportsmanship.
Torrance won the "C" division, Will Rogers won the "B" division, Manhattan Beach won the Girls "A" division and Hermosa won the Co-Ed "A" division.
There will be a six-member "Junior" Taplin Relay for the "A" and "AA" (ages 16-17) levels Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hermosa Beach Pier, just before the start of the Lifeguard Taplin Relay.
2011 TAPLIN RELAY RESULTS
C DIVISION
1. Torrance A
2. Hermosa A
3. Will Rogers A
4. El Segundo A
5. Manhattan Beach A
6. Manhattan Beach B
7. Tim Kelly A
8. Santa Monica
9. Zuma
10. Venice
11. Redondo A
12. Manhattan Beach C
13. Tim Kelly B
14. Hermosa B
15. Hermosa C
16. Torrance B
17. Redondo B
18. Torrance C
19. El Segundo B
20. Tim Kelly C
21. Will Rogers B
22. Zuma B
23. Cabrillo
24. El Segundo C
25. Will Rogers C
B DIVISION
1. Will Rogers A
2. Redondo A
3. El Segundo A
4. Torrance A
5. Manhattan Beach A
6. Venice A
7. Manhattan Beach B
8. Zuma
9. Hermosa A
10. Tim Kelly A
11. El Segundo B
12. Santa Monica
13. Cabrillo
14. Torrance B
15. Hermosa B
16. Manhattan Beach C
17. Will Rogers B
18. El Segundo C
19. Manhattan Beach D
20. Tim Kelly B
21. Redondo B
22. Hermosa C
23. Manhattan Beach E
24. Avalon
25. Torrance C
26. Will Rogers C
27. Venice B
28. Torrance D
GIRLS A RELAY
1. Manhattan Beach
2. Tim Kelly
3. Redondo
4. Zuma
5. Will Rogers
6. Venice
7. El Segundo
8. Torrance A
9. Torrance B
10. Cabrillo
A DIVISION
1. Hermosa A
2. Manhattan Beach A
3. Venice A
4. Will Rogers A
5. Zuma
6. Redondo
7. Hermosa B
8. Manhattan Beach B
9. Santa Monica
10. El Segundo
11. Torrance A
12. Hermosa C
13. Cabrillo
14. Torrance B
15. Will Rogers B
16. Tim Kelly
17. Venice B
18. El Segundo B
