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Oceanside celebrates 'Surf' from June 13-17

USA Surfing National Championships wrap up on International Surfing Day with free screening of Big Wave Guardians.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Summer may not officially start until next week, but beaches in Oceanside are taking center stage right now. In this Zevely Zone, I learned about Oceanside's Celebration of Surf. 

USA Surfing and Visit Oceanside, along with the Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego and City of Oceanside are joining forces June 13-17 to kick off the 2023 O’side summer season with a spotlight on the largely unknown and underappreciated relationship between surfers and lifeguards, who together keep the ocean safe and fun.

Credit: Oceanside's Celebration of Surf

Surfers and lifeguards have lined up to watch the documentary Big Wave Guardians, but it's always been sold out until this Saturday when there will be a free seat for everyone. 

Big Wave Guardians: First Responders of the Sea is filled with 90 minutes of heroism. Jim Kempton, the former editor and publisher of Surfer Magazine wrote the screenplay. 

"The lifeguards do this life and death thing every day," said Jim who interviewed lifeguards from Hawaii's North Shore for the documentary. 

"I wanted to go see it, but it was actually sold out, we couldn't get tickets," said Oceanside lifeguard Sergeant Jonathan Chesner. 

He wants to see the film that showcases the special bond between surfers and lifeguards. 

"The best lifeguards are often times the best surfers just because you are seeing rips, you are timing lulls, all of the things surfers do intrinsically really good lifeguarding incorporates that as well," said Sergeant Chesner.  

Andrea Swayne, the CEO of USA Surfing is in Oceanside with surfers of all ages for the first week of their national championships. 

"One of the rights of passage for young surfers, most young surfers growing up here on the coast is being in Junior Lifeguards," said Andrea. 

"Lifeguards were born from surfers. Every surfer has a story of having to save someone or assist a lifeguard making a rescue. Together surfers and lifeguards are a potent force in keeping the ocean safe and fun. We applaud the work to ensure more people can learn to swim and be safe around water. It not only saves lives, but also gives more underrepresented groups the opportunity to fall in love with surfing - a beautiful, healthy sport and lifestyle.”

Credit: Oceanside's Celebration of Surf

USA Surfing’s elite Championship competition runs June 13-17 at Oceanside Harbor. 

The world’s best surfers from multiple disciplines – para surf, longboard, adult shortboard, stand-up surf, and SUP paddle distance racers – will compete for national titles and potentially qualify for the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Championship and Pan Am Games. The schedule is as follows:

June 13-14: para surf competition, featuring surfers with a range of physical disabilities

(classification takes place June 12)

June 14-15: longboard competition with ISA trials

June 15: SUP & Prone Distance Race (ISA Trials)

June 16: Adult shortboard and SUP surf

June 17: SUP Age Group Races, SUP Tech Races (ISA Trials)

*All heats are expected to run from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm throughout the event.

Credit: USA Surfing

The week culminates on June 17, International Surfing Day, with a free, family-friendly public screening of “Big Wave Guardians: First Responders of the Sea,” a documentary film written by

California Surf Museum Oceanside President Jim Kempton and a new film short featuring Oceanside surf greats like world junior Gold Medalist and WSL CT pro Caitlin Simmers. 

Both films showcase the important and ever-evolving role lifeguards and surfers play in keeping the ocean safe and fun. The movies will be shown on the big screen at Oceanside’s Pier Amphitheater on Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m.

"We really hope the lifeguards will all come because it's a tribute to lifeguarding worldwide. People don't realize that lifeguards are first responders and that they live in a life and death situation every day and they without a lot of thanks and without a lot of pay and they just deserve our respect," said Jim who hopes the next time you see a lifeguard, you'll stop and say, "Thank you, ha, ha, thank for being there when people needed you," said Jim.  

For more information about Oceanside's Celebration of Surf and this Saturday's free screening click here.

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