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| Lifeguard Captain Remy Smith |
Mirror Columnist
July 26, 2013
Why be a lifeguard I asked LA County Lifeguard
Captain Remy Smith. “I love going
to work,” he said. “Having to be
ready to perform every day and having the chance to work with so many different
people. I love that it’s proactive
work. Our goal is to stop the bad
things from ever happening. We are
there to help people, to make the beach safe for everyone, and to prevent accidents,
injuries and deaths.”
Remy Smith was born in Australia in 1967 and
grew up in New York, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. “When I lived in LA I went to Area H Alternative School in
Highland Park,” said Smith talking about his childhood. “My friends and I would ride the bus to
the beach on the days we weren’t playing baseball or football.
“We usually went to Tower 26. It was where the ‘cool kids’ hung
out. We rode boogie boards and we
body surfed.”
In the 1990’s Smith went to SMC. He’d been a baseball player but had to
give it up because of a sports accident where he’d hurt his hand. He wanted to stay in shape and he knew
he could swim, even with a hurt hand.
“I joined the swim team and the water polo
team,” Smith said. “I was the worst guy on the team starting out but in a
couple of seasons I was the fastest in butterfly, individual medley and breast
stroke.
“The team head coach was John Joseph, a
legendary coach and the most winning coach in Junior College history. Whether you were the fastest or the
slowest he respected and cared about all his team members. Stuart Blumkin, himself a star athlete,
was our second coach and he and Coach Joseph made a good tag team.”
Smith said, “I had never thought about being a
lifeguard but SMC has a long tradition of producing lifeguards. Many swimming team members became
lifeguards after graduating and would come back to train with the team. The lifeguards who swam with the team
inspired me to become a lifeguard.”
Being a lifeguard is a highly competitive
position. To be selected for an
interview applicants must first race in a 1000 meter open water ocean
swim. Typically about 300 to 400
people participate. The top 100
finishers are then interviewed.
Smith was 23 the first time he competed in the
1000 meter open water ocean swim and he didn’t make it. The 54 degree water was too much for
him.
In preparation for the next open water ocean
swim he practiced over and over in cold water and even took ice baths to get
his body accustomed to cold-water temperatures. “For me to make it,” Smith said, “I had to put my mind in
another place.”
Smith finished in the top 100 the second time he
competed and secured one of the coveted interviews. In the interview he told them, “I am a relentless person and
I will really apply myself to this job.”
That got him the job and in 1991 Remy Smith
became the sixth black person to be hired as a full time lifeguard. When he was hired there were four black
lifeguards and one black Section Chief, Russ Walker.
At that time there were 140 full time and 800
recurrent (part time) ocean lifeguards working for the County. Everyone starts as a recurrent ocean
lifeguard. Before being able
to become full time a lifeguard has to log 200 days of work, take a swim test
and a written test, and be appraised for performance and knowledge. Certification for lifeguards is an
ongoing process and permanents continue to be tested twice yearly and recurrents
once per year.
Lifeguards are also part of the LA County Fire
Department and Smith was at the Encinal Fire on June 22. “Lifeguards help with all emergencies,”
Smith said, “fires, car accidents, cliff rescues. We do whatever is needed.”
Smith stated, “Being a lifeguard makes you grow
up fast because you are responsible for people’s lives. In the time I have been a lifeguard
there have been over 1000 rescues by LA County Lifeguards at LA County Beaches.
“On one day in Zuma we made over 300 rescues. It was 110 degrees in the Valley and
over 150,000 people had come to Zuma Beach that day.
“Usually we get to people so quickly that they
are more scared than hurt. But at
the end of that day at Zuma we had a boogey boarder who hit his head. When we pulled him out of the
water he wasn’t breathing and we couldn’t feel a pulse. Thankfully we were able to bring him
back.”
Smith said, “It takes special training to take
care of the children we rescue.
One day a few other off-duty lifeguards and I were training on jet
skis. A 2 year-old boy had been
pulled out to sea by a rip tide.
He was almost 300 yards off shore when we got to him. We were just in time to save him. I will never forget that rescue.”
Smith hopes to prevent accidents from happening,
guarding the water and the beach.
He advises parents that, “Swimming is a life skill, everyone should
learn to swim.” He laughingly
adds, “but teach them to swim in warm water because they’ll learn better when they’re
comfortable. And when you come to
the beach make sure your kids know the number of the lifeguard tower where you
are on the beach and teach them that lifeguards are their friends.”
Remy Smith has been on the job 22 years. He was made a permanent hire in 1997
and promoted to Captain in 2006
“I didn’t realize it I was going to feel the way
I did when I came back to Santa Monica but I felt I’d come home,” said Smith.
It was an understandable feeling given that Remy
Smith’s great grandfather came to Santa Monica in 1908. He was the Presiding Elder at Phillips Chapel
on 4th Street in Santa Monica. Smith’s grandfather, Hilliard Lawson served on the Santa
Monica City Council and his grandmother, Bernice Stout Lawson, was a well-known
music teacher in Santa Monica.
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| Remy Smith photo credit Ruben Pena |
For Smith home is Santa Monica and the
ocean. “Being a lifeguard is a
lifestyle. Surfing is by far the most challenging way to stay in shape. The waves are always changing. It’s a mental and physical challenge. When you catch a wave you’re walking on
water and there’s no better feeling.
“The most important thing to know,” Smith tells
everyone, “is that the ocean is always in charge.”
