Bob Burnside

Robert MacKenzie Burnside (1932 to 2019) was an American ocean lifeguard, competition swimmer and organizer of beach lifesaving. Hired by Los Angeles County as an ocean lifeguard in 1951, he became the first president of the Surf Life Saving Association of America in 1964, the body that later became the United States Lifesaving Association, and led it for four years. He travelled to Australia with the American team for the 1956 international lifesaving competition, placed third in the belt race at Torquay, and helped bring Malibu balsa surfboards and aluminium rescue buoys to Australian lifeguards. In 1967 he designed the plastic Burnside Rescue Can, now a standard piece of lifeguard equipment worldwide, and in 1990 he became grand champion of the World Body Surfing Championships. He received the 2014 Paragon Award for Water Safety from the International Swimming Hall of Fame.