The summer season at Newport Beach came...

The summer season at Newport Beach came to a tragic end Labor Day

weekend when a rip current claimed the life of a 46-year-old Anaheim

man late Sunday.

Lifeguards pulled Avelino Arellanes, 46, and a young woman from

the water at 6:10 p.m. near the 28th Street jetty, where the the pair

had been seen struggling in the strong current.

Arellanes was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian,

where he was pronounced dead.

The woman was treated at the scene but did not suffer serious

injuries.

The lifeguard at Tower 28 went off duty at 6 p.m.; if the man had

been swimming when a lifeguard was on duty, he may have been saved,

said Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer.

“It just happened to be the wrong place at the wrong time,” Bauer

said.

The odds of drowning while swimming in front of a staffed

lifeguard tower are one in 18 million, Bauer said.

Joe and Jill Leclair of San Dimas, Calif., were swimming near the

28th Street jetty Monday afternoon; they had been at the same spot

Sunday evening and witnessed the rescue efforts.

“I saw the girl trying to hold him [the victim] up,” said Jill

Leclair.

The lifeguards were on the scene right away and immediately

performed CPR, she said.

“Those guys did everything they could -- they were real heroes,”

Jill Leclair said.

Rip currents account for 80% of water rescues for Newport

lifeguards, Bauer said.

The currents commonly occur around the pier and the jetties and

can sometimes pull a swimmer 150 to 200 yards from shore, Bauer said.

From the vantage point of a lifeguard rescue boat bobbing offshore

Monday, rip currents -- marked by swirling clouds of brown water --

were visible up and down the coast.

Lt. Brian O’Rourke, a boat supervisor, killed the engine in the

middle of a rip current to illustrate its strength. Within seconds,

the water was spinning the five-ton boat in circles and pulling it

away from shore.

“When it gets cranking you can actually hear the water sucking out

to sea,” O’Rourke said.

A few minutes later, a call from a tower guard came over the radio

-- two swimmers appeared to be caught in a rip current. O’Rourke

threw the boat into gear and held the throttle until the boat was

racing at 30 mph toward a pair of swimmers in distress.

Lifeguard Corey Worley balanced on the end of the boat, threw off

his shirt and sunglasses and stood ready, buoy in hand, to jump in.

By the time the boat reached the swimmers, a tower guard was

already in the water and was guiding the swimmers back to shore. The

guard gave the OK signal, and O’Rourke turned the boat around.

If a swimmer is caught in a rip current, they should calmly swim

parallel to the shore until out of the current. Swimming straight

toward shore will only make you tired, Bauer said.

“People panic -- that’s where they get into trouble,” O’Rourke

said.

Lifeguards aboard boats can spot rip currents from afar and warn

swimmers to stay clear. “It’s all about anticipating,” O’Rourke said.

During the summer, the guards have three boats patrolling the

waters, along with tower guards and vehicle units. The 30-foot

powerboats can withstand the pounding of surf and assist victims in

as little as three feet of water.

Labor Day weekend marked the end of the summer season for

beachgoers and lifeguards alike. Beach crowds are expected to

dwindle, and Newport guards will cut staffing by more than half

starting today.

With the tragic exception of Sunday’s drowning, the season has

been quiet for Newport lifeguards, said O’Rourke. He attributed the

slow season to recurring red tides and swarms of stinging jellyfish,

which have tended to discourage people from entering the water.

“This has been probably the slowest summer I’ve worked in my 18

seasons,” O’Rourke said.

When a drowning occurs, it’s always a somber day for the

lifeguards.

“It definitely makes you aware of how important this job is,”

O’Rourke said.