From the early 20th century, Santa Monica Bay was the magnet that attracted tourists from all over the world, who came to enjoy a bit of fun in the sun. Back then, so many of these beachgoers were unaccustomed to the wiles of ocean swimming that precarious rescues and drownings often dominated local headlines. These well-publicized tragedies hurt the local coastal tourist and real estate industries, and efforts to encourage beachgoers to swim in the plunges adjacent to the beach were helpful, but not enough to keep people away from the ocean. In 1907, Abbot Kinney, whose neighboring ‘Venice-of-America’ was particularly dependent on tourist dollars and home sales, took the lead in organizing a trained lifeguard force. Kinney invited a young Hawaiian named George Freeth, who introduced surfing to California, to teach local lifesavers a wide array of techniques that later revolutionized ocean lifeguarding along the Southern California coastline. The history of the Santa Monica lifeguards is chronicled in Arthur Verge’s book ‘Images of America: Santa Monica Lifeguards.’ Verge, a Los Angeles County lifeguard since 1974 and professor of history at El Camino College, uses a wide range of historic photographs, including the scrapbooks of numerous lifeguards, to tell the story. He will talk about his book on Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m. at the Ocean Park branch of the Santa Monica Public Library, 2601 Main St. In the early days, young men who enjoyed playing water polo and swimming in the Ocean Park and Venice plunges were asked to volunteer as lifeguards along the shoreline. It wasn’t until the 1920s and early 1930s that modern lifeguard services were in place year-round. During the Depression, many lifeguards enjoyed their time on the beach, surfing, fishing and diving when they were not on duty. The war years, however, cut into the public service, as most lifeguards went into the military. Palisadian Dick Orr, who served almost 50 years as a part-time lifeguard, working summers and holidays, enjoyed what are now considered the golden years for Santa Monica lifeguards, from 1945 to 1960. For a kid from Compton, spending his summers at the beach was attractive. ‘I was home for the summer from Brigham Young University, where I was playing football and studying to be a physical education teacher, and I noticed an advertisement in the gym at Compton High School for a lifeguard’$1.87 an hour,’ Orr recalls. ‘That was 1953.’ Training in those days was consolidated into a ‘rookie week,’ Orr says. He was taught mostly first-aid techniques, such as how to apply direct pressure, fix cuts, and perform CPR, as well as rescue procedures using the rescue tube. ‘I did my rookie year at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro,’ Orr says, ‘and after that I wanted to be closer to home so I was transferred to Venice, where I met [my wife] Inga,’ whom he ‘beguiled’ with his lifeguard sweet talk. ‘I saw this tall, beautiful blonde, and told her that I had forgotten my soda and knew that I was going to be very thirsty. She was there with her niece and uncle and offered me a soda.’ In 1960, Orr graduated from BYU and got a job teaching PE and history at Airport Junior High, but stayed on with the lifeguard service as a ‘recurrent’ lifeguard. He worked his way up to Will Rogers State Beach, spending the remaining years of his career at towers 6, 7 and 8, near the Bel-Air Bay Club. While lifeguarding equipment has become more technological these days, thanks to ‘Baywatch’ creator Greg Bonann (who introduced the Jet ski and fast boat), the dangers remain the same, says Orr. He recalls a double rescue. ‘I was working at the Fire Pit at Playa del Rey when two kids were caught in a riptide. I contacted headquarters to tell them that I was leaving my station to make the rescue and ran into the water. One kid made it back by himself, but I brought in the other one with a rescue tube.’ Beyond strength and skill, Orr possesses a friendly, relaxed manner that is key in helping victims, who are often panicked. Riptides are particularly dangerous, especially near a jetty, Orr says. On one occasion, he was making a rescue on an especially tricky day and noticed that to his left and right other lifeguards were in the water rescuing struggling swimmers. These days, the Los Angeles County Lifeguards are a division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Qualifications for the job are rigorous. ‘To get on a crew,’ Orr says, ‘men and women candidates have to swim 1,000 meters around a buoy, get out of the water, run around the headquarters tower and then back into the water and repeat the swim. The training is fantastic.’ Orr retired in 1995 (making $100 a day), believing it was time to let younger people do the job. While he doesn’t swim in the ocean these days, he does still enjoy his home swimming pool and recalling those years at the beach.
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