Overview
- A 16-year-old California State Parks lifeguard, Ryder Williams, ran from Tower 2 on July 25 and swam into violent surf to pull 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai roughly 15–20 yards offshore back to shore.
- Los Angeles County lifeguards reported just under 2,000 ocean rescues over the heat-driven beach period while Santa Cruz District lifeguards said they performed 34 rescues and made more than 5,000 preventative contacts that same weekend.
- Federal and local weather agencies say life-threatening surf and strong rip currents were driven by swells from Hurricane Fausto and Tropical Cyclone Genevieve, and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center warned that a strengthening El Niño could prolong elevated surf.
- The rescue drew national attention, President Trump invited Williams and his family to the White House, Nathaniel is recovering and his father publicly thanked the lifeguard for saving his son’s life.
- Lifeguards and safety experts urge beachgoers to swim near towers, consult on-duty lifeguards before entering the water, throw flotation instead of entering the surf to help others, and escape rip currents by swimming parallel to shore to avoid further drownings and strained rescue resources.