Long Beach Lifeguards and two girls rescued a total of 20 swimmers during a two-day span last week.
Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook.
On Thursday, lifeguards pulled nine swimmers in distress out of the Atlantic, and in a separate incident two teen girls, Brittany Waller and Haley Abott, saved a man from drowning in the water that was beset by wind swells.
Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The next day, June 21, the first official day of summer, lifeguards pulled a total of 11 people from the water, including a teenage girl who was rescued and transported to a local hospital after she nearly drowned and three swimmers who were pulled out past a jetty, according to the Long Beach Herald.
Up until Friday, a limited number of off-duty lifeguards, eight in all, patrolled the entire beach only on weekends. Paul Gillespie, chief of lifeguards, told the Herald:
Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“People are not supposed to be in the water. They don’t realize how bad it is. They don’t understand we’re not [on-duty].”
Starting Saturday, though, the lifeguards returned to their stations at each beach and will man them every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Labor Day.Scott Kemins, the commissioner of the Long Beach Fire Department, told Patch on Monday that there were no reported after-hours rescues during the weekend.
MORE NEWS
Billy Crystal Presents Gifts to Long Beach
Long Beach Woman Arrested for Prostitution
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
