More than a Swim: Reef and Run Has Become a Santa Barbara Summer Tradition

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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Maybe you’ve noticed us on a late Thursday afternoon: 300 or so people on East Beach clad in swimsuits or wetsuits. Bags stuffed with towels line a perimeter of picnic blankets. Kids dart between camp chairs while musicians tune guitars or set up drums. The sun begins its descent behind downtown.

You’ve made it just in time for Reef and Run, a weekly ocean swimming event that runs from the first Thursday in June to the near-end of August. Jane Cairns organized the first gathering in 2008. “I wanted an event that is safe for swimmers and a good time afterward,” she said. “And here we are —18 years later.”

Reef and Run is a multigeneration affair with the youngest participants aged about seven and the oldest around 75. There are no age restrictions, per se. (Youngsters, many of whom are in the city’s junior lifeguard program, swim with their parents.) There aren’t any species restrictions either — last year, at least one dog, donning a canine life vest, completed a race. Swimmers choose from one of three distances: the 500-meter, the 1,000-meter, or the mile, and complete the associated course.

“Course,” you ask? Why, yes. Before the race, lifeguards tow bright triangular inflatables to specific spots in the water. Swimmers make their way toward and around them, heading in either a straight line or a rectangle.

Cairns explains all this to Reef and Runners just before start time and reminds everyone to look out for fellow racers. Then she sets the crowd off, with a wave of bodies sprinting and jogging to the water, where a fleet of lifeguards on surfboards and a jet ski wait to follow the pod.

Except for four biathlons spaced through the summer, the initial dash into the water and the sometimes-labored stagger up the beach satisfy the “run” component of Reef and Run. At the finish line, a volunteer marks your time and placement.

Food trucks, beer and hot cocoa, and a live band greet the swimmers post-race. The vibes turn from anticipatory to celebratory. Families sit together, and seasoned ocean swimmers joke with twentysomething triathletes. “I just love watching everyone — older people and young people — dancing together,” Cairns said.

Reef and Run’s first years were decidedly low-budget. A few dozen swimmers took part and celebrated with a keg and snacks to the tune of acoustic guitar. A few years in, as more people dove into the brisk water every Thursday, Cairns received her first sponsor.

This year, more than 65 individuals and organizations are supporting Reef and Run. Community events aren’t cheap and Cairns said sponsors help keep registration affordable, covering the cost of permits, insurance, and lifeguards. The committee also fundraises for the community. It holds Nick Night in memory of Nick Johnson, a water polo player, lifeguard, and lifeguard instructor, and has donated more than $40,000 to community members experiencing a recent loss, or contending with illness.

The season closes with a boat trip: 120 participants ride one mile from shore, then make the trek back. As a marathon swimmer, Cairns said it’s a chance to share a taste of what long-distance ocean swimming is really like. For Cairns, the hugs and thanks she gets each year offset the tremendous labor of organizing the three-month series. “You can put on the event, but it’s the people that make it,” she said.

Cancer Survivor, 17 Years Old, Clinches the 1,000-Meter

by Elaine Sanders

Cole Racich, a rising San Marcos High School senior, took his first win in the 1,000-meter Reef and Run swim on Thursday, three years after he was diagnosed with leukemia.

“I’ve grown up swimming all my life,” said Racich, 17, who has consistently competed in the event and worked as a lifeguard.

In 2023, at 13 years old, his talent in the water was recognized by coaches at an Olympic development program in Texas. Racich was playing on three water polo teams at the time, including at the varsity level as a freshman, when he started experiencing extreme earaches.

Two months into the school year, the teen’s aches developed into illness, and his mother took him to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. After nine hours of testing, Racich was airlifted to Los Angeles, where he spent 123 days in treatment.

“While I was in the hospital, I had a TV where I would watch the cams in Santa Barbara of my local surf spots, like Campus Point. And I would just be like, ‘I can’t wait to get back there,’” said Racich. 

Six months after being hospitalized, he surfed his first wave, at Campus Point. Immersed in the salty sea, water flowing over his body, Racich remembers thinking, “I’m back to life.”

On Thursday, Racich was back in the ocean battling it out with fellow 1,000-meter competitor Stewart Reid, 53. Halfway through, “I could tell this guy had some speed,” Raich said.

Trying to angle himself to keep Reid behind, Racich turned the final buoy for home, still neck and neck. “That’s when I just turned on the jets,” he said.

His red cap bobbing in the chop, with arms and legs churning up the sea, Racich caught a wave that thrust him into shore. Sand under his feet, he beelined for the timer’s gate, his mom leaping and cheering while recording the whole thing.

“I think he might have done it!” she exclaimed.

Fifteen minutes and 36 seconds. Three seconds ahead of second place. Racich had secured his first win.

After he returns from a family vacation, Racich will be gunning for his next Reef and Run goal: to place top three in the mile. Racers will need to keep an eye over their shoulder for the red-capped teen riding his wave to the finish.