Day 4’s pool workout for those preparing for our upcoming tryout, April 19th at the UTMB Field house. Be there at 7am!
| Warm up |
| 300 swim choice stroke |
| 300 kick (75 of each, IM order) |
| Main Set |
| 3 x 100 swim IM on 1:15 |
| 1 minute rest |
| 3 x 150 swim on 2:50 |
| 1 minute rest |
| 3 x 50 swim on 1:10 |
| 300 pull on 6:00 breathing every 3rd stroke |
| 250 swim on 5:00 breathing every 5th stroke |
| Warm Down |
| 100 swim recovery breathing every 7th stroke |
| 100 easy |
Day 3 of our suggested workouts in preparation for the 500m swim under 9 minutes tryout for our Rookie School! Keep training! And give us a call for with any questions!
| Warm Up |
| 300 swim choice stroke |
| 300 kick IM order (75 each) |
| Main Set |
| 3x 200 swim on 3:55 (1 pull, 2 swim) |
| 150 swim on 3:00 |
| 2 x 50 fly on 1:15 |
| 150 swim on 3:00 |
| 50 fly on 1:15 |
| 150 swim on 3:00 |
| 50 fly on 1:15 |
| repeat above with breast instead of fly |
| 6 x 50 kick on 50 choice |
| Warm Down |
| 100 easy |
Some people are wired different than others. Some candles burn brighter. Some people are larger than life. Archie Kalepa is such a person.
Archie was the Lifeguard Chief in Maui for quite awhile. We are the same age and knew each other originally through the United States Lifesaving Association and forged a friendship through the years. Archie recently retired his position to become the primary “ambassador” for Olukai sandals and to pursue other interests.
Visiting Archie in Maui is like visiting a prince. Driving through Lahaina with him in his giant monster truck pulling a boat or with an assortment of boards and water toys is almost impossible due to all the people waving, honking, flagging him down, asking favors, or just wanting to chat. But all the attention doesn’t seem to get to him. He stays focused, stays humble, and shows respect to each and every one. He knows every kid that waves as they see him and smiles, yelling “Uncle Archie!” Surfing with him is even better. In a place known for fierce localism, ultra competitive world class surfing, and an overabundance of testosterone in the lineup, you’d expect trouble. But paddling out with Archie gives you a magic shield. Guys that would terrify you in an alley are all smiles and “Your wave brudda”.
This attention has been earned not just by being a nice guy. Archie is a true legend that earned respect in a world full of very accomplished lifeguards, surfers, and athletes by becoming one of the most accomplished watermen on the planet.
His pedigree is impeccable and he comes from a long line of Hawaiian legends. But he carved his own way. Archie first became a local hero when he saved 15 people and one dog during Hurricane Iniki. He was one of the original pioneers in rescue with a personal water craft. In fact, the watercraft rescue program we have here is based on training and materials he, Brian Keaulana and a handful of others provided us.
Outside of lifesaving, he is known as a legendary big-wave surfer. He has performed stunts for Hollywood movies, traveled extensively sharing his knowledge of water rescue, and is one of the few people in existence that is comfortable riding the monster waves of the infamous Maui break “Jaws”. And by “monster” I mean 8 story tall waves! He also is one of a handful of people who pioneered the use of the surf foil and one of the surfers who renewed interest in riding and paddling the stand up paddleboard (SUP), the use of which is sweeping the world now.
As a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Archie has traveled to Tahiti on both the Hokulea and the Hawaiiloa traditional voyaging canoes, and is dedicated to resurrecting interest in the traditional Hawaiian sport of canoe surfing.
You can meet Archie this Sunday. Around 5pm, Strictly Hardcore Surf Specialties and Olukai Sandals are sponsoring an intimate meet & greet followed by live music at Galveston’s own Beach Hut.
See you there!
Day 2 of workout suggestions in preparation for our second Rookie School tryout on April 19.
| Warm Up |
| 300 swim choice |
| 300 Kick with fins choice |
| Main Set |
| 3 x 100 swim pace on 2:15 |
| 50 easy |
| 3 x 100 swim pace (faster times than first) on 2:15 |
| 50 easy |
| 3 x 100 swim pace (faster than second) on 2:15 |
| 300 pull |
| 2 x 150 swim pace on 3:00 |
| 2 x 75 swim pace on 1:30 |
| 2 x 50 swim pace on 1:00 |
| 4 x 25 sprint IM order on 0:50 |
| 3 x 50 kick choice on 1:10 |
| Warm Down |
| 100 easy |
Our second tryout for the 2014 season is just under a month away! To help those of you who are preparing for our 500m swim in under 9 minutes, we will be posting pool workout ideas each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the coming weeks to help get you ready for the tryout swim and our Rookie School.
| Warm up |
| 300m swim (choice of stroke) |
| 300m Drill Swim IM order (Butterfly, Back, Brest, Free) |
| Main Set |
| 3 x 200m swim pace on 3:45 |
| 3 x 50m swim with fins on 0:50 |
| 3 x 50m sprint on 1:10 |
| 2 x 200m pull on 3:45 |
| 3 x 50m swim with fins on 0:50 |
| 3x 50m sprint on 1:10 |
| 200m sprint |
| 100m easy |
| 200m kick with fins |
| 4 x 50m kick choice |
| Warm down |
| 200m easy |
Check out a full list of pool workouts in our Training section. Or if you’re looking for other workout ideas, give us a call at 409-763-4769 and we’ll help get you ready for Rookie School.
Finally! Spring feels like it’s just around the corner. After the long, long winter there’s finally that feeling in the air. The cold is still there but doesn’t seem to penetrate all the way to your bones and even if it’s cold in the morning you’re able to get by with a thin layer or just a t-shirt by the afternoon.
The water, however, doesn’t seem to know that it’s time for winter to relinquish its grasp. On Tuesday, we did a beach workout and were still wearing full suits and hoods, although boots and gloves weren’t necessary. The water temp was 58. Warmer air temperature means that people on stand up paddleboards have been surfing with either just a wetsuit top or even “bare backing” it while people surfing prone are still in full winter gear.
The spring breakers were undaunted by the cold water though. Each time the sun popped out or the wind died they suddenly appeared all over the beach. The first volleyball tournament of the season went off well at Stewart Beach. The lifeguards, shivering in their towers, had to move a number of them away from the rip currents near the jetties. There were, however, some days where it was just too cold to put the guards in the towers in the mornings. Fortunately we kept a number of them on standby knowing that the afternoon would warm up and as soon as the sun popped out and hundreds would suddenly show up. It seems like there were lots of people here on the island hanging out in restaurants, hotel rooms, The Strand, or one of our many tourist attractions waiting for that ray of sunshine so they could hit the beach.
This weekend is the last of Spring Break. It will be safe to drive down the seawall for a short time until summer is really upon us. No one will meander across the lanes in front of you with speeds varying between 5mph and 45. No one will pull a U-turn, almost hit you, and then post up by a potential parking space, unashamedly blocking traffic, while 5 people take 20 minutes to load two chairs and a cooler into the back of their vehicle. But enjoy it while it lasts, because soon it will be time to retreat to the “secret” way you have to move around the interior of the island!
This weekend the Houston schools and a handful of colleges are at the end of their Spring Break and the weather forecast looks pretty good, so we may see those big crowds we’ve been expecting. As it stands this far, the Beach Patrol has only made one rescue. It was a good one though. We, with the help of our police, fire, and EMS partners, saved a father and daughter from drifting off shore on a really cold north wind day. They likely wouldn’t have survived if someone hadn’t had the good sense to call 911.
And so it begins….
Spring break got off to a slow, cold start this year. But we all know how fickle the weather can be in March and it pays to be prepared. Sure enough, each time the wind slowed down or the sun even hinted that it might come out people started appearing all over the beach.
Fortunately, we had lifeguard re-qualifications last Saturday. After swimming 1,000 meters (40 lengths of the pool) in 18 minutes are less, the returning guards proved they stayed in good enough shape over the winter to still have what it takes to make rescues in the surf. After swimming, filling out paperwork, and drug testing they were back out on the beach for another season. The good thing is that once they meet the minimum requirements and go back to guarding, our daily workouts and training will keep them in great condition throughout the season.
Putting the entire Beach Patrol system back in place for the summer is a complicated process with a lot of moving parts, but we’re getting there. The towers are re-furbished, all 220 signs are up along the entire beachfront, the buoy rescue boxes on the jetties and elsewhere are in good order and stocked, new vehicles are getting outfitted, and winter training is complete. We still have training of new lifeguards and our annual supervisor academy to go but we have to wait until May when the entire seasonal staff is here for that. One big piece of the puzzle was put in place last Tuesday at the Park Board meeting. We decided what the plan will be this summer for the San Luis Pass.
You recall that there were several drownings at the beginning of the summer at the San Luis Pass last year. As a result, we re-directed some funds and increased the number of warning signs about the dangerous currents in and around the pass. We have maintained those signs as they’ve fallen or been vandalized and are committed to continuing that. Signage is good, but there’s nothing like hands on intervention.
Funds have been tight for the past few years and we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to do more at the pass. The board decided to put several projects in a prioritized contingency line item to hold off on until we see how the hotel tax, which comprises the lion’s share of our budget, tracked before committing those resources.
Good news! The hotel tax is above predicted levels and the board felt comfortable releasing additional funding for a weekend patrol at the San Luis Pass. Starting Memorial weekend we’ll schedule a roving vehicle to keep people from swimming in the Pass.
I have to hand it to the board. They have consistently tried to make a difference while keeping expenditures to a minimum. Our money is tight, but ultimately it came down to focusing on what’s best for tourism, Galveston, and our beach visitors.
They found a way to make it happen and accidents will be prevented because of this.
The group of young men and women radiated nervousness as they lined up on the sand. “On your mark, get set, GO!” shouted the instructor as they raced down the beach around the tower and into the water.
I was about half way out to the buoy when a group of good swimmers caught me and basically swam right over me. By the time I got going again a wave smacked me right in the face as I was taking a breath. When I got to the buoy I had to hang on for a few seconds to catch my breath before pushing on.
The year was 1983 and I finished 11th out of 30 in the Beach Patrol tryouts. They took the top 8. Finally, around the 4th of July I got a call that I could come and work. There was no formal training and no special first aid course other than what I got when I took the Red Cross pool lifesaving course. I was just given a radio and sent to work.
Tomorrow is the first of three tryouts for the Beach Patrol at 7am at the UTMB pool. If you know anyone that wants to work on the Beach Patrol spread the word. The basic swim test is the same as it was 32 years ago when I bombed it. Details are on our website. Candidates who want to start working right away can go through the first lifeguard academy over spring break. We pay them to attend the school where they are certified in CPR, First Aid, and beach lifeguarding. They also go through training in tourist relations, city codes pertaining to Galveston’s beaches, gulf coast ecology, and near shore topography and hydrology. Coupled with all the classroom work is hands on training in how to swim and make rescues in surf, search and recovery, and the basics of lifesaving sport. It’s a busy week and we’ll do it all over again the second week in May for the second lifeguard academy.
In addition to training for new lifeguards we are starting our annual training session for dispatchers, supervisors, and personal water craft rescue operations. By the time Memorial Weekend hits we’ll be up to speed. Despite the huge amount of effort all this requires of our permanent staff members there’s a big payoff for both our staff and the public. The inconsistent training that once took a whole summer is taught in a uniform manner. Each employee is taught the same material and instilled with similar core values. Any one of our guards can handle whatever is thrown at them when and if they complete the training.
So for those that would like to try being a beach guard, I hope you’ll give it a shot. I’m so happy I squeaked in all those years ago. For me it was a life changer. Not many people get to go home at the end of the day with the knowledge that they saved someone.
Four heavy duty water barricades were interlocked and stretched across Boddecker Drive just before the entrance to East Beach. Captain Tony Pryor sat in his Beach Patrol truck working security. His job was to keep cars from entering East Beach.
In years past we’ve had problems in the beach parks after the Strand area was swept clean of the late night party crowd. There have been tons of litter and glass bottles, occasional fights, and damage to the beach pavilion. Better to just keep everyone out.
As Tony sat just inside the entrance a Lexis came blasting down the road until it stopped at the barricade. Revving its engine, it picked up speed as it quickly turned and shot up the sand dune landing inside of the park. Tony hit the overhead lights and the car came to a stop, rolling down the window. “What?!!” shouted the driver. “The park is closed,” Said Tony, “You’re not allowed to be in here”.
The driver looked at him for a long minute. Then he said, “How am I supposed to get out”?
A day earlier, Officer Kris Pompa led a work crew to get all the signs that had fallen over along the entire beach front back in place before Spring Break hit. Beach Patrol maintains some 230 signs along the entire 32 miles of Galveston Beach as well as along the ship channel and San Luis Pass. As you would imagine it requires a great deal of effort and resources to keep them all up. Friday afternoon he came back from working all day tired but seemed happy. “All the signs are up Chief”, he said as he drove off.
Monday Kris was assigned to a patrol shift. During the month of February this means that he and another person patrol the entire beach front. They mostly work the seawall, Stewart and Apffel Beach Parks, but at least once they patrol the entire beach along the west end from the San Luis Pass all the way to the western tip of the Seawall. As they made it back to Stewart Beach I saw Kris in the parking lot. He shook his head and laughed when he told me that two of the new signs and posts that his crew had painstakingly erected and used a water jet to sink 6 feet into the sand had been ripped out and burned for firewood. These signs warn people about how dangerous the waters are in the Pass and are critical in our attempt to keep people from drowning there.
It’s hard at times to maintain the energy, patience, and positive attitude to do the job that Tony and Kris do. Dealing with the public can be frustrating because you often have more interaction with the people that don’t show others respect. Most of our staff, especially Tony and Kris, are good at finding humor in the tough parts and focus on the millions that enjoy the beach in a positive way each year.
