Ethan Armstrong's Ben Did Go 9.0 Fundraising Page

Hello everyone! My name is Ethan Armstrong and this year I am stoked to be participating in the Ben Did Go 9.0, a 30 mile paddle from Catalina Island to Newport Beach this September in honor of Ben Carlson.

Ben was a veteran Newport Beach lifegaurd who sadly passed away on July 6th, 2014 after a busy 4th of July weekend. On that day, he and a fellow lifegaurd were patrolling the beaches via boat looking for any people in distress as this weekend saw large surf and strong currents. These conditions made for a busy weekend for the gaurds patrolling the beach as they made nearly 600 rescues that weekend.

On that day, Ben and Gary Conwell were patrolling just past the surf when they spotted a swimmer in distress where Ben then jumped into the water to save him. Soon after contact, he and the swimmer found themselves stuck in large swell were they both then went over the falls. The swimmer was able to break the surface of the water and make it back to the beach safley. Unfortunately, Ben was nowhere to be found. After 3 hours of searching from Newport Beach Lifegaurds and neighboring agencies, he was located nearly half a mile from his original location where he was soon pronounced diceased. He was the first and only Newport Beach Lifegaurd to die in the line of duty since the founding of the service.

Since his death, the Ben Carlson Foundation has operated in memory of Ben, providing annual scholarships, serving under-resourced children and most importantly working to develop and improve systems to protect and educate lifegaurds and the public from the ocean.

I myself was born and raised in South Orange County and grew up in the water my entire life, developing a strong love and passion for the ocean. I personally did not know Ben, but since remembering the day of his tragic death, my fondness to water and water safety has grown even stronger. Because of this, I have decided to participate in the Ben Did Go 9.0 paddle in memory of Ben, helping to better opportunities and peoples awareness of the power of the ocean.