By Andrew Georgy
On a calm beach day, you’ll see the usual: the tides crashing on the shore, young kids building sand castles, as well as Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) teacher Michael Olsberg surfing his life away on the waves.
“I’ve always been very active in aquatics. My sophomore year in high school, a guy on my football team told me, ‘You know how to swim; you should join the swim team,’” Olsberg said. “So, I joined the swim team.”
For him, the wave isn’t something to be afraid of. Olsberg uses it as a toy, enjoying every single second.
“I look at the wave and I’m like, I’m going to play with it. I’m not going to be fearful of it. I’m going to know how to use the energy and use it as a way to propel myself,” Olsberg said.
Despite being an excellent swimmer, surfer and lifeguard, Olsberg still finds role models to look up to, including his two favorite surfers: Jack Johnson and Kelly Slater.
“[Jack Johnson] was able to enter the Pipeline (a surfing competition) as a wild card at the age of 16, and I remember he was the youngest person ever to make the finals. And of course, growing up, Kelly Slater was the world’s greatest surfer, 11-time national champion,” Olsberg said.
It’s not just surfers that Olsberg looks to; for example, one of his biggest influences is Ray Bray, the first ever person to create a junior lifeguard program.
“All the other junior lifeguard programs are modeled after what he created at Huntington Beach,” Olsberg said. “I coached with him for eight years, and I would say Coach Ray was a huge influence [on] me; he wasn’t just a model water-man but also a model human as well.”
Olsberg’s water effects aren’t just felt at the beach; he also coached Boys Swim here at FVHS.
“We built a program up, where [first] our Frosh team would never lose at Sunset League Finals, and then, we won three straight varsity titles,” Olsberg said.
For up-and-coming surfers or swimmers, Olsberg has one recommendation: be familiar with the water.
“This is the surf place. Just because of the warm weather, you’re always going to be near a pool. You want your children to be safe, so learning how to swim is a necessary requirement, especially here in California,” Olsberg said.
As for Olsberg’s favorite moment in the water, it’s probably when he visited Hawaii’s world-famous China Walls.
“I’m only so big that I can’t withstand the cold temperatures of Huntington Beach’s waters for more than two hours,” Olsberg said. “And so surfing China Walls was probably one of my best days of surfing, especially since there was no time limit and I was with two of my very good friends, and sharing that moment with them was also very rewarding.”
The next time you visit Huntington Beach, make sure to pay attention to the waves; perhaps you might see Olsberg riding the biggest one.
