Laguna lifeguards place third in championships

Laguna Beach Lifeguards got third place in the California Surf Lifesaving Assn. Regional Championships in Seal Beach on July 23.

They placed third behind Los Angeles and the state, which each pull from a pool of about 600 full- and part-time lifeguards, Marine Safety Lt. Scott Diederich said. Laguna draws from a pool of approximately 100 lifeguards.

A team of 12 males and 3 females competed from Laguna.

Diederich said the Laguna Beach Lifeguards had not competed very well since 2006. In 1999, they took second place at the event.

The championships reveal the level of athleticism and the expectations placed on lifeguards in Laguna Beach, Diederich said.

The women competed very well, he said. First-year lifeguard Ally McCormick, 16, won the women’s run-swim-run event. Gina Nourmohamadian, 21, won the women’s 2K beach run and is currently training for the Hawaiian Ironman.

Diederich said the level of competition presented by the women may mean that they will qualify at the Wieland Shield Competition in 2012, which has been an all-male team in the past.