Growing up the youngest of four brothers, I have always been quite driven. What I lacked in size, speed, athleticism, or any discernible talent, I made up in mental resiliency. My super power, from the first time I beat one of my brothers in a 1-1 basketball game to my career as a professional ocean lifeguard, is my ability to remain mentally strong. I learned from an early age that the only short cut is to trust the process and go to work.
I came very late to Lifesaving Sport. Until I was 15, I was a soccer nerd. It was not until a rainy summer day, rare in Los Angeles, that my Junior Lifeguard Instructor played a VHS tape of an old Uncle Toby’s race. Our group of kids sat in the garage at the lifeguard station and watched this incredible race in huge surf. I said to myself, “I don’t know what that is, but I want to do THAT.” Set on becoming an ironman, I quit soccer and focused on waterpolo and board paddling. My imagination combined with my determination led me down a 20+ year road I would have never imagined as a kid growing up in Southern California where surf lifesaving is, at best, a healthy hobby.
After four seasons in Australia in the best surf clubs, being essentially adopted by my now Gold Coast family, I was able to maintain two decades of success in the US. I captained 13 US National Teams, won 40+ open US titles, medaled in several World Champs, and have become an athlete advocate within the USLA and ILS. I’m not the future of the sport, not the past, but I choose to act as bridge between the two to help generate opportunities for lifeguard/saver athletes I did not have and to use sport as a platform to raise awareness for the profession of lifesaving and for drowning prevention the world over. I credit my longevity within the sport to my incredible friendships, birth order, and coming to the sport later in adolescence, as I never burned out. Also, my side hustle working in the film and television industry played a big part by providing a creative balance to athleticism and public service, but that is for another time.
The most important aspect in my life now, is my beautiful family. Elizabeth, Jamo, and McKenzie are unbelievably supportive and I can only hope that my children will see what a healthy relationship to sport, nature, service, and community looks like, no pressure, from our time under the tents with other extraordinary lifeguard families. Everything I do now, I do for them. I am beyond blessed to have an incredible life partner who’s probably more into lifesaving than I am and always laughs at my horrific dad jokes. Haha!
I look forward to 20 more years of giving back to the community that has given me more than I could have dreamed of doing.
