Big Surf Postpones the 75th Huntington Beach Pier Swim

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The 75th Huntington Beach Pier Swim is postponed due to large surf hitting the beaches in Orange County this week (photos above courtesy of Stevie Ray). Originally scheduled for June 13th in Surf City USA, the new date is now Saturday, August 29th.

“The swim around the pier attracts up to 300 people; about half are local and half come from all over the place,” said Race director John Valinsky says the annual event attracts about half locals and half people from various places. “Sometimes, it is cancelled because of big waves. Huntington Beach lifeguard Gene Belshe started it as a kid’s race and now we have 16 age divisions. Even when the race is not cancelled by big waves, we still have to save [help] up to 50 people in a race as they get pulled through the pier. Ten years ago, we started the Legends Division, a new division for those swimmers over 65 years old. There are more swimmers of this age nowadays.”

Swim Long Beach, led by local legend Hank Wise, has repeatedly won the Gene Belshe Memorial Perpetual Trophy in recent years as the high-scoring team. “We train together, pacing, racing, and pushing each other, and then go have coffee after practices. We carry our SWIM Long Beach Banner as high as possible on game day – whether in the pool or salt water. Many on our team prefer to race and strive in the open water, using the pool mostly for our baseline fitness.“