It’s all about remembering the legacy of a lifeguard and the inspiration Ben Carlson left behind.
The annual Ben Did Go 8.0 drew a record number of participants this year, with 111 prone paddlers embarking from Catalina Island to Newport Beach on Saturday, Sept. 16, for a 30-mile trek that also serves as a fundraiser in the fallen lifeguard’s honor.
This year, nearly $210,000 was raised for the Ben Carlson Scholarship and Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit created by friends, family and fellow lifeguards to raise money for water safety and drowning prevention. The amount raised far exceeded last year’s $125,000 and brings the total from the past eight years to about $550,000.
“It was extraordinary, the amount of support we get every year seems to be growing organically through the community,” said Spencer Pirdy, who created the event in 2015 and now sits on the nonprofit’s board of advisors.
Carlson, a Newport Beach lifeguard veteran, died during a rescue in big surf in 2014.
“It’s just so huge for our foundation,” Pirdy said of the community support for the group. “We’re able to in turn take those funds and reach out to our partnerships at lifeguard agencies around the world that really need our help. They don’t have the necessary funds from their governments to help.”
For example, Puerto Escondido, a big-wave spot Carlson loved, now has ATVs and other equipment courtesy of the foundation, and there are water safety programs that have been started in coastal areas of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The foundation is also coordinating with Maui efforts to help lifeguards on the fire-stricken island.
The number of paddlers this year surpassed last year’s 77 participants, with many newcomers joining veterans who are familiar with crossing the Catalina channel.
Mark Schulein, CEO of Crown Ace Hardware, is no stranger to the crossing, it was his 25th trek across the Pacific Ocean since his first in 1996.
Now, at age 54, he’s enjoying a…
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