3-Time Ironman Competes in California Surf Lifesaving Championship

Thousands of lifeguards will descend upon Seal Beach on Saturday to compete in the 2011 California Surf Lifesaving Championship, including Venice's Brian Murphy. 

Murphy, originally from Redondo Beach, is one of the lifeguards stationed here, but he is also a three-time U.S. Ironman champion and six-time U.S. Board champion.

“Witness the fitness,” is Murphy's motto, coined by his brother, Mike.

“It's kind of a big joke between the two of us,” Murphy said. “I don't know if I'm the fittest ocean guard or simply the craziest.”

The 28-year-old's daily fitness routine might be considered maniacal. He swims for an hour every morning, works outside with “prepubescent, hormonal, rebellious teenagers all day" (as a Junior Lifeguard instructor), and then trains in the ocean for at least an hour every evening.

His zealous training habits ramp up in the winter for competitions. Beginning with a light regiment of weight training, running and swimming, he adds craft workouts on the paddleboard and surfski come spring. By summer his training sessions range between 10 and 12 times each week.

"For this specific event, I have been working hard on fine-tuning my starts and finishes,” he said. He has competed in the California Surf Lifesaving Association Regionals since he was 17.

Murphy also competes and serves as team captain on the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Association Surf Racing Team. The team’s manager, Jay Butki, has known Murphy for more than eight years.

“He’s very focused on his training, and that’s what has made him so strong and consistent,” Butki said.

Butki feels confident that Murphy’s tenacity and technical execution will bring him success Saturday. "I think he’ll be winning another Ironman title," said Butki, adding that Murphy’s chances of winning both the paddleboard race and the surf swim race are high. "He’s put in the hard time, and he’s got the results. So far this year, he’s the man."

Sixteen events are scheduled for the Seal Beach competition Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. with new events slated every half-hour through 3:30 p.m. Murphy aims to compete in 12 events, knowing that exhaustion will be his biggest hurdle. "It's a tough gig but incredibly rewarding,” he said. "My ultimate goal is to have fun."

Recently a competitor in Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Surf Ironman Series in Australia, Murphy is the first American to be invited to participate in the competition. He said the trip was the "pinnacle" of his career.

“I achieved a teenage dream of racing professionally at the most elite level a guy in my sport can compete in," he said. 

Although Murphy finished 19th out of 20, just competing was a massive achievement. "It's like an American marathoner moving to Kenya as an invited guest and actually racing fools in their own sport. Or a U.S. soccer player starting on Manchester United," Murphy said.

Saturday’s regional competition serves as a precursor to the 2011 United States Lifesaving Association National Lifeguard Championship in Cape May, NJ, in August.

Murphy is also pursing an acting career. He can be seen now in a commercial for MGD 64 Lemonade.