The two lifeguards executed a dangerous night jump off the Venice Pier to save a swimmer caught in large surf
The 2024 International Surf Festival honored two Los Angeles County Fire Department Ocean Lifeguards for their life-saving actions at a Medal of Valor dinner on July 31 at the King Harbor Yacht Club. This event marked the kickoff of the 61st Annual International Surf Festival, running from July 31 to August 4.
Ocean Lifeguard Specialist Max Malamed and Ocean Lifeguard Ryan Aronson received the Medal of Valor for their courageous rescue on July 4, 2023. The two lifeguards executed a dangerous night jump off the Venice Pier to save a swimmer caught in large surf.
The incident occurred as Malamed and Aronson were about to go off duty. They responded to a call that an individual had jumped into the ocean from the pier amidst a busy scene of over 2,000 beachgoers celebrating Independence Day. The ocean conditions were increasingly hazardous due to a building south swell and growing wave size.
Navigating through the crowd, the lifeguards reached the pier, where onlookers indicated the victim’s location. The duo performed a challenging night pier jump into the large surf to rescue a fully clothed woman clinging to a piece of nylon rope attached to a pier piling. The woman appeared to be experiencing a psychiatric emergency and was unresponsive to verbal communication.
“Upon jumping off the pier, I swam to the victim and noticed that she was clinging onto the rope very tightly, which she refused to let go of,” Aronson recalled. Malamed added, “We convinced her to let go of the rope and grab onto the rescue can. We then took a two to three wave set on our heads inside the pilings with her.”
Despite the chaotic scene, including fireworks overhead, the lifeguards safely brought the woman to shore, where advanced life support resources were waiting.
“This was a bread-and-butter rescue for us,” Malamed said. “But with the dynamic of it being nighttime, with not a lot of resources available, the crowd, and the fireworks show going on, all of that combined to make the scene extremely chaotic.”
