International Surf Festival 2025: Beach way of life celebrated by Surf Festival numbers

by Kevin Cody

Numbers for the sixty fourth Annual International Surf Festival embody over 1,000 individuals for the Dwight Crum Pier to Pier Swim; almost 1,000 for the Charlie Saikley Six Man, and Jr. Six Man Volleyball Tournaments; almost 200 for the Dick Fitzgerald Two Mile Beach Run; over 100 for the Velzy/Stevens Pier to Pier and the Ocean 7s paddleboard races; and slightly below 100 for the surfboard and bodysurfing contests. 

Those aren’t spectator  numbers. They are competitor numbers. 

The competitions happen over the primary weekend in August, at the side of the Southern California Ocean Lifeguard Championships, which entails related competitions, however with life saving purposes.

The variety of Surf Festival opponents is notable as a result of swimming two miles within the open ocean, operating two miles within the tender sand, browsing, paddling and seashore volleyball all require months of conditioning, and years of observe. 

The variety of opponents can be notable as a result of the occasions are all volunteer run, and financially self-sustaining, aside from the Six Man volleyball match and Two Mile seashore run, which Manhattan’s and Torrance’s rec departments run, respectively. Beachsports, a advertising and marketing firm run by former lifeguard Scott Hubble, contributes monetary to the competition, however registration charges are their major income supply. 

The competition is coordinated by a volunteer board composed of retired lifeguards Maria Bird, Gary Crum, Adam Sandler, Dave Storey and Chris Linkletter.

The South Bay Boardriders and Ocean’s Prone run the browsing and paddling competitions. Gillis Bodysurfing Association runs the physique browsing contest. King Harbor Yacht Club runs the youth crusing competitors. And the swim is run by retired lifeguards, and funds the lifeguard competitions. 

And lastly, the variety of opponents is notable as a result of win or lose, first place or final, when the opponents depart the seashore sporting their occasion T-shirts, all of them look pleased, and able to do all of it once more tomorrow. ER