Show Must Go On: Ocean Games Keeps Water Sports Spirit Alive in Ocean Festival’s Hiatus

While the 45-year history of the San Clemente Ocean Festival was put on hold for 2023, the show continued on the north side of the Municipal Pier as the City of San Clemente hosted the San Clemente Ocean Games on Saturday, July 15.

With the impetus coming from San Clemente lifeguards to save some sort of watersports event along the pier this summer, the city was able to put on a condensed, lower-key one-day affair after a quick turnaround.

“I think it was maybe at most six weeks of a turnaround to get this whole event underway,” Alexandra Gallardo, a recreations supervisor with the city’s Beaches, Parks and Recreation division said. “We did work with a consultant who usually works with the Ocean Fest and some very active lifeguards within the city. They helped put this together with Marine Safety, Orange County firefighters. We had a lot of hands to make this happen.”

Photos: Shawn Raymundo

There was a lack of the Ocean Festival’s traditional flair—no exhibits on the pier, no live music or youth pavilion, no sandcastle competitions or mermaid parades—but when it came to the competitive events, the sand was lined with race lines and flags and the water was marked by race buoys, lifeguard swims and Dory Boats crashing against the waves, as they have for nearly half a century in San Clemente.

“This is something that makes San Clemente San Clemente,” said Jack McLaughlin, a San Clemente lifeguard competing in his first Ocean Games. “Surf racing, just the beach in general, it’s the whole culture of San Clemente.”

McLaughlin and Roland Mantecon teamed up to win the Lifeguard Rescue Relay, as the “victims” swam out to the marked buoy and the “rescuer” swam out to save them and pull them back to shore.

“The lifeguard community is just a big thing here for this town,” Mantecon said. “Having some of the veteran lifeguards come and kind of facilitate this and get the city on board, it’s really cool to see.”

The Ocean Festival always inspired competitors to return year after year, and that remained true for the fan-favorite highlight event of the Dory Boat races.

Waterman James Bray of Santa Barbara grew up in San Clemente and has returned time and time again to compete along the San Clemente Pier. His love and commitment to the events shone through with a win in the Dory Boat race with longtime teammate Dane DeBoer of Huntington Beach, another win in the Surf Ski race and two second-place finishes in the International Ironman and Sprint Paddleboard races.

“For me, it’s incredible,” Bray said of the day, “because as soon as I heard (the Ocean Festival) wasn’t running, there’s so much tradition and culture and everything with that event. I told Dane, and he said the show’s got to go on, and we have to do something about it.”

And while the Ocean Games don’t have the same splash of color and complete beach takeover of the Ocean Festival—which does hope to return next year—the spirit of the water games continued for those who got involved.

“Excellent day,” DeBoer said, “and I’ll tell you, what made it for me was seeing the junior guards compete and their smiles when you compete as a youth, and the conditions ended up being perfect. They’re all having successful goes at getting in and enjoying the waterman environment. That’s priceless.”