On Saturday, June 11, the Community & Library Services Department held the 71st Annual Huntington Beach Pier Swim. With help from the City’s Marine Safety Division, City beach lifeguards were stationed in the water, on the beach, and on the pier to make sure that everyone completed their swim safely.
We couldn’t have asked for better conditions, as the sun eventually burned through the marine layer and swimmers were met with only medium-sized surf and very little current. 212 participants entered the 67-degree water on the north side of the historic HB Pier, swam around the end, and finished on the sand south side. Both the shoreline and pier were crowded with spectators, local swim teams, and families cheering on the swimmers.
Recreation Supervisor John Valinsky, who has been coordinating the event for the last 11 years, reported that Ryan Bullock was the fastest swimmer with a time of 8 minutes and 49 seconds. Also, two swimmers in the Legends Men’s Division (65 years and up) broke the old record of 12 minutes and 14 seconds set by Tom Ettinger in 2016. Legends Division swimmer Mark Montgomery swam in 11 minutes 20 seconds and the new record was set by Victor Katayama with a time of 11 minutes and 8 seconds. The all-time record from any Division was set in 2009 by Tom Shields with a time of 7 minutes and 40 seconds.
Awards were given to the fastest swimmer from each of the 16 different divisions. The Gene Belshe Memorial Perpetual Trophy, presented to the swim team with the highest combined scores, went to Swim Long Beach.
