Thursday’s Reef & Run (Aug. 7) at East Beach is being dedicated to Nick Johnson, the UCSB water polo player and Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguard instructor who died last March from apparent shallow-water blackout while doing a swim workout at the Santa Barbara High pool.
The 500-meter ocean swim will be held in a tribute to Johnson. The usual registration fees will be waived, but a minimum $5 donation is requested for the Nick Johnson Memorial Fund.
Junior Lifeguard assistant director Scott Holland said Johnson “meant a lot to the program. He was one of my junior lifeguards. We’re all going to miss him. He’d been here since he was a little kid. We watched him grow up.”
Reef & Run registration begins at 5:30 p.m. and all swims starts at 6:30. There will be a short program following the swims at East Beach Grill to remember Nick and his involvement in the local aquatic community.
