In 1966, the second season for the City of Del Mar lifeguards, there were five new seasonal lifeguards hired. One of the upstart young guards hired that year was a local Del Mar surfer named Grant Larson. He was a student at San Diego State and little did he know at the time that he would be a career Del Mar lifeguard.

Grant quickly became a very dependable guard. With his knowledge of the local ocean conditions and his surfing experience, he could handle himself in just about any situation.

Grant became the Lieutenant, second in charge, in 1979 and was chosen by the City to head up the Department after Gardner's retirement in 1982.

From looking at Grant's accomplishments, it can best be said that Grant brought the lifeguard department into the 21st Century. He realized that with increased crowds, lifeguarding should be more preventative. There were many more water safety contacts under his supervision. He determined that rescue boats were very efficient tools and brought the inflatable rescue boat to the department. They are still an important rescue tool today.

Grant started the lifeguard trainee program which allowed him a pool of proven applicants to choose from for seasonal lifeguard positions. He consolidated the lifeguard department with associated beach maintenance, parking enforcement, code enforcement and park permitting services. And, Grant took more interest in interacting with other lifeguard departments both for information exchange and competition. Because of this, it can be said that Grant put the Del Mar Lifeguard Department on the map as a top notch department among its peers.

Grant devoted 32 years of quality service to the Del Mar lifeguard department. He was the captain for 15 of those years and retired in 1998 at the age of 51.

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