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    Junior guards take the pier plunge to kick off summer
    • June 20, 2023

    Brynn Kelly stood on the wooden pier in San Clemente, ready to make a splash into the chilly ocean water below.

    “It looks tall from up here,” said Kelly, last in line on Monday, June 19, for the iconic pier jump, a rite of passage for those who participate in the city’s junior lifeguards summer program. “When you’re halfway through, it feels like it’s endless … it’s the only reason I’m here.”

    Most schools are out for the summer season and across the county, kids are heading to the beach for junior lifeguard and surf sessions, to local pools for swim lessons and rec swim sessions and to parks and community centers for summer camps.

    San Clemente Junior Lifeguard Rooney Beatty, 11, jumps off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    San Clemente Junior Lifeguards lineup along the railing as they prepare to jump off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    San Clemente Junior Lifeguards wait on their surfboards for fellow junior lifeguards to jump off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    A San Clemente Junior Lifeguard jumps off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023 as her fellow junior lifeguards wait on their surfboards. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    San Clemente Junior Lifeguard Triston Moura, 13, jumps off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    San Clemente Junior Lifeguard Grey Bennett, 11, jumps off the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    Thousands of kids will partake in junior lifeguard programs from Seal Beach to San Clemente, each beach town offering slightly different programs, but all rooted in the same lifesaving and beach safety lessons.

    Lauren DeVries watched as her son, Trent, 11, jumped from the pier for his second year, and the third time so far this season.

    “He loves it, it’s just an opportunity they don’t usually get, to jump,” she said. “It’s just a San Clemente, community-type event we love and get to experience. That’s the highlight. For the parents, too. It’s getting over the fear.”

    Jen Beatty watched her daughter, Rooney, 11, saying she doesn’t get nervous anymore – just super excited.

    “They have fun, it’s a great opportunity,” Beatty said.

    Tatiana Cavazos, a tourist from Riverside, stopped on the pier to watch the kids take the estimated 27-foot jump to the ocean. (Jumping from the pier is normally prohibited.)

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    “I think it’s pretty amazing,” she said. “It’s refreshing to see something like this, especially with the past few years we’ve had the pandemic.”

    Her son, Niko, 7, watched the guards training all morning, she said. “He saw this and he’s in awe.”

    Junior lifeguard lieutenant Grey Bennet got ready for his eighth jump since he started the program three years ago.

    “Your heart beat gets excited, it’s like ‘ba boom, ba boom, ba boom,’” he described.

    Grant Miller, 5, holds his head up as he watches his siblings and friends bury him in sand at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, CA, on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    Beach goers enjoy the sunshine south of the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

    A surfer is framed by the San Clemente Pier in San Clemente on Monday, June 19, 2023 as the overcast skies begin to clear up after 1:00 PM. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    The bummer summer weather of the morning couldn’t dampen the mood, with the sun and blue skies poking out by the afternoon for the beach crowds out enjoying the sand and surf.

    There may be more spotty sunshine Tuesday and Wednesday, but another low-pressure system is headed to the area by Thursday and Friday, leading to more cloud cover heading into the weekend, National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Roser said.

    Low-pressure systems from the north cause cooler, moist air along the coast, a pattern that has stuck around since spring, he said. Water temperatures are still cool – in the low 60s – and when the water is colder than the air, it creates a “temperature inversion,” acting like a lid keeping the cooler temperatures in place.

    “As we get into summer months, the water warms up and catches up with the warming of the air,” Roser said. “There’s less low pressure systems from the north as well, more areas of high pressure.”

    Meteorologists are eyeing a high pressure area off Mexico that could potentially head to the area by next weekend, he said.

    “That should,” he said, “help it warm up.”

    ​ Orange County Register 

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