08/21/2026
Lifeguard Rescue Effort Amid Thumping Surf (original raw video)
7-26-26: High Adventure in The Great Outdoors at The Edge of Civilization in La Jolla by a Heroic Lifeguard named Naomi.
https://reviewer.substack.com/p/lifeguard-rescue-effort-amid-thumping?utm_source=youtube
She didn’t have much time. He was about to drown. The waves were pounding the rocks, and there was no way he’d make it in safely unassisted.
IT WAS HIGH DRAMA!
I was driving past Windansea Beach yesterday for a wave check. When I turned right from Palomar Avenue onto Neptune Place I saw the Sunday walkers on the sidewalk had all stopped and were now looking intensely out toward the direction of Big Rock. Then I saw a young blonde female lifeguard jogging south purposefully on the sidewalk through the crowd of watchers in the characteristic red sport bikini. Her gaze was fixed on her path directly in front of her, and there was a serious expression on her face. Very serious. She was petite, tanned, holding her swim fins in one hand and, in the other, the buoy they push to victims who are struggling against drowning.
I immediately found a parking spot and quickly walked up to survey the situation. Here the wealthy La Jolla residential neighborhood stops abruptly, and the mighty Pacific Ocean takes over. The largest, most untamable body of water on Earth stretches before you.
I asked a guy in trunks what was happening. He pointed to the head bobbing 150 feet offshore and told me that guy was having trouble. After that is where you can see the video begins.
People can make fun of lifeguards because of the memory of Baywatch and Pamela Anderson, David Hasselhoff, et al. It usually looks like a fun, kinda glam, and rather cushy job, hanging out in a beach chair while looking good and watching the shore. But it’s serious work. Real serious work. This swimmer was a young guy out there who got into a circumstance that wasn’t how he expected it would be. San Diego is a military town, so maybe he was a new recruit and having his first go at the beach, or maybe a college dude from the Midwest having a beer or three. Warm summertime beach weather and inviting ocean water can soothe a strong but inexperienced person into thinking, “Yeah, this is no big deal. I can easily make it in after swimming a ways.”
Then the thumping surf on the rocky shoreline combines with growing swimmer’s fatigue until suddenly you realize there’s no more pocket beach like the one you entered the water from. You’re tired. Now you’re in trouble. You have to time your approach well between set waves and pick your pocket. It’s a skill that doesn’t come naturally, and you have to learn quick.
Let’s recognize this lifeguard they called “Naomi.” She was on it. She’s the hero here.
[If you found this interesting please like the video and subscribe to the channel.]
