Virginia Beach lifesaving service turns 80

OCEANFRONT

They're the eyes, the ears and the quick action on the beach. The 200-plus men and women in red swimsuits are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

"Our team is as strong or stronger than it's ever been," said Kent Hinnant, chief of the service.

Lifeguards are on 41 beach stands in the resort area, seven in Croatan and two on 57th Street between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., Memorial Day through Labor Day. They also remain until dusk on 10 select stands in the resort strip.

The city's annual contract with the service is $1.17 million, and runs through the end of 2011.

The service documented 850 rescues last year. As of July 15, there have been 400 rescues.

The service won first place in the South Atlantic Region Lifeguard Competition held in Virginia Beach in July, earning the

highest score among 11 competing teams in swimming, running and rescue races, among others.

It all began with three visionaries with like-minded entrepreneurial spirit. They laid the foundation for the lifeguard service decades ago.

Boys of Summer

Graham K. "Dusty" Hinnant came to Virginia Beach in 1929 from Raleigh, N.C., at the urging of his college roommate, John Smith (the uncle of the local surf legend Pete Smith).

Smith's family owned the Albermarle Hall Hotel at 24th Street. Hinnant had been a lifeguard at a camp and was certified by the American Red Cross. He began training lifeguards in Virginia Beach and he and Smith, along with friend Hugh Kitchin, had assembled a crew.

They were instrumental in forming the Virginia Beach Lifeguard Association in 1930. Hinnant remained in the position of captain of the association for 50 years.

In the beginning, he and the others were charged with the task of finding funding.

"They had to come up with some kind of system to pay the lifeguards," said Kent Hinnant.

Renting umbrellas and chairs to beachgoers became a viable way to offset costs. "In the old days, the lifeguards would do the rentals and watch the water," he said.

The rental division of the lifeguard service would become a mainstay until 2004.

When Kent Hinnant was a little boy, he would ride in the basket of his father's bicycle when he patrolled the Boardwalk. The beach was narrow and the guards were close enough to hear his father's instructions or see him give orders.

"You could yell over to the guard," said Kent. "It was all hand signal or whistle signal."

He grew up learning the ins and outs of beach patrol, and watched Virginia Beach grow up along the way.

"I saw changes going on in the country through the Beach," said Hinnant.

He remembers when a police officer escorted an African American woman from the beach in 1954 before desegregation, and when the first woman became a lifeguard in the early 70s and someone questioned her ability to rescue an endangered swimmer.

Changing times

The service changed names over the years, and has also been called Virginia Beach Patrol and Ocean Rescue. In 1975, the service began using red flags to indicate dangerous surf.

Kent Hinnant took over the role that his father had held for years, and Dusty Hinnant continued to be a part of the operations in his golden years. He was in the center of the annual lifeguard/beach rental personnel photograph, too, wearing his red Hawaiian flowered shirt. He died at age 82.

The rental division was bought by a private company six years ago.

Virginia Beach Lifesaving Association was selected to host the 2005 United States Lifeguard Association Championships where more than 1,000 guards from around the country participated. And when the South Atlantic Region Competitions were held in July, crowds gathered on the beach to see the men and women race.

"It's a great opportunity to show the public what we're doing," said Tom Gill, captain of the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

Today, lifeguards gather at the service station on 18th Street for morning muster. They dispatch to the sand with a whistle, a radio, basic first aid equipment and a torpedo buoy.

The supervisors - some of whom started as young lifeguards years ago and now have children who are lifeguards - patrol on Jet Skis, all-terrain vehicles and trucks.

They've come a long way since the hand signal from the bicycle.

Even with the modern equipment, the essence of the guards' duty hasn't changed: quick action saves lives.

It's the lifeguard's job to also take "preventive action," said Kent Hinnant. They are trained to scan the water and shoreline and to recognize and respond to dangerous situations.

When summer ends, and the lifeguards return to school or other jobs, they leave more than footprints in the sand.

Many will have saved lives.

"They've been involved in something bigger than themselves," Hinnant said.

Stacy Parker, stacyparker@cox.net