Lifeguard History

  How Baywatch Made Lifeguard Gear Sexy Before Baywatch brought red swimsuits and rescue cans into living rooms around the world, lifeguarding was already a serious profession with decades of development buoying the industry. The gear was functional, the training rigorous, and the risks very real. But the public didn’t always see that. Then came […]

Lifeguard WWII Stories: Jack Hamlin and the Spirit of Service at Normandy “Be nothing, but just be a lifeguard. We were not there to destroy anybody, to kill anybody. We were there just to do rescue operations…” —Jack Hamlin, WWII Lifeguard and U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer during D‑Day United Service Organizations That’s what Jack […]

The Lifeguard Who Invented the Rescue Can Before the red rescue buoy became an international icon symbolizing beach heroism, before the rescue can was a must-have staple in lifeguarding, before the hottest actors in film and television slung the cans across their bodies and jogged slow-mo down the beach, one man found himself fed up […]

San Diego Lifeguard Agency’s Tragic Origin Story Monday, May 6th, 1918. Ocean Beach, San Diego.  The beaches are packed with thousands of families trying to beat the heat and enjoy the surf. Motorcycle patrolman Frank Merritt watches the waves from his bike, while local swimmer Arthur Wilson strolls along the sand, enjoying the sun. Suddenly […]

Tragic Mendocino Lifeguard Rescue Lifeguard Heroism is not machoism or glory. It is often death-defying attempts to save a life. Lifeguard rescues are not always successful, but the bravery does not go without valor. In some of the most extreme coastal conditions in Northern California, veteran watermen and lifeguard Ean Miller attempted to save a […]

In the Beginning: Lifeguard Equipment and Clothing Back in 1913 the beach lifeguards would row a small wooden rescue boat from the beach through the rolling surf to pull the stricken swimmers from the water. Rowing boats through waves and surf was slow and dangerous for both the lifeguard and the drowning victims. Throughout the […]