CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Lifeguards Busy Over Holiday Weekend

Nice weather for two of the three days this weekend brought crowds to local beaches over Memorial Day, lifeguard officials said today.

“Weather was wonderful and crowds were large on Saturday and Monday,” said Lifeguard Battalion Chief Jim Turner. “Sustained afternoon winds of 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph kept Sunday’s crowds down, but quite a few people stuck it out and stayed at the beach even with the high winds.”

A total of 152,500 beach visitors were recorded, most on Sunday and Monday. On Saturday, 65,000 people hit local beaches, with 17,500 on Sunday and 70,000 people on Monday, backing up traffic on Newport and Balboa boulevards after 4 p.m. with people continuing to head to the sand, Turner said.

Lifeguards made 20 rescues during the weekend, Turner said, including eight each on Saturday and Monday and four on Sunday. Three medical aid calls were handled by paramedics, and 90 First Aid calls were treated by lifeguards.

In all, lifeguards took 1,343 wet preventative actions and 248 dry preventative actions, he said. Also, ten lost people were reunited with families.

“One lifeguard working, at Tower 22 on Monday, was particularly busy with 120 preventive actions taken in one day,” Turner said. “The lifeguard was out of the tower constantly throughout her shift, moving bathers who were being pushed by west winds towards a strong rip current near the Newport Pier.”

Another lifeguard had the most rescues over the weekend, with four on Monday, he said. “A group of three bathers caught in a rip on the left side of the 28th rocks and sucked to the end of the jetty was the big rescue of the weekend, with the rescue boat deckhand and unit lifeguard assisting the tower lifeguard with the rescue.”