A coordinator of LA’s new kayak program has made a big splash in his community- especially among youth

James Jordan is at the forefront of a new program that teaches kids lifesaving skills and how to work together, all while exposing them to a unique sport. 

The sun was reflecting off the pool on Oct. 12 when James Jordan emerged from behind a storage shed. The only loud noises came from the drain that ran alongside the pool. Jordan was in the middle of cleaning something and rushed away to change out of his dirty clothes. 

When he came back from the locker room, he looked quite different. He was wearing a black uniform with a silver badge over his heart. His collar was adorned with silver lieutenant bars and he had a lifeguard patch on his right arm. He looked more like a police officer than an aquatics facility manager. Jordan joked that the badge and logo give people the wrong impression. 

“But you gotta remember we’re human too,” Jordan said.  “We’re not out there doing bad stuff. We’re just here to save you.”

Jordan is a coordinator of the Learn to Kayak program, an initiative that began this summer that is part of the city’s push to prepare for the 2028 Olympics. Jordan works at the Exposition Pool in Exposition Park, in an area that has been historically underrepresented. He said  the kayaking program exposes kids to things they would not think are reachable in their area. 

“When I take my kids out to Palos Verdes, they don’t look like the other kids..they’re mainly minorities that don’t come from those areas,” he said.

Jordan protects the kids from the stares and answers awkward questions that onlookers may ask. He said that once he explains what the program is all about, they are supportive and tell him what a cool thing it is. He added that there have just been a handful of supervisors that he has worked with in aquatics that were people of color.

“[I] let them know that just because no one else alongside of you looks like you doesn't mean you can’t do it,” Jordan said.  “That’s been my whole life.”

For parents with children that participate in the program, their experience is great. 

Adriana, a mother who asked to be referred to by just her first name, watched her daughter from the edge of the rock retaining wall in Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. It was an overcast Sunday morning when about six children carried their kayaks from the beach to the ocean.

“She’s in the green kayak,” Adriana said as she pointed to her in the water. 

About eight colorful boats bobbed in the bay, paddling about a half a mile around a dock and the rock wall that stretches far into the ocean.

Adriana signed her daughter up for three kayaking classes.

Adriana said, “She loves it. She did stand-up paddle boarding and she’s trying the surf class as well.”

But the kayaking class is the first water-based recreation and parks class that her daughter has taken. Adriana’s daughter is 9 years old.

The parents often speak to Jordan about their experience. He remembered when he first took the job in 1989.

“I wanted to be a Mad Man. I wanted to be in advertising. The reason why I really became a lifeguard was because I wanted a motorcycle.”

He remembered playing video games with his best friend who eventually started to spend less time with him when he got the job as a lifeguard. This income allowed him to buy a motorcycle. Jordan decided to follow the same path. 

Now, Jordan lives just a few miles away from the pool. He said that kids who participate in the program come from all over the city of Los Angeles and the valleys too. His goal is to bring people together and give them experiences they would not normally have. 

“Their parents realize that they’ve never ever in their lives done anything like that.”

Some of the kids he teaches can say they’ve kayaked down the L.A. river. They also learned skills like CPR and water safety that he said they can  pass on to their siblings and even parents. 

Aron Mingayan, a lifeguard who started working at exposition pool in 2017, He said that what really stands out is how Jordan relates to the kids in the program. 

“You get a rowdy bunch here and there but then James walks up, kinda gets down on their level, talks to them, and then calms them down. It’s kinda like magic sometimes.” 

Mingayan reflected on how the lifeguard shortage this past summer affected the kayaking program’s success. He looked around at the pool and pointed out that there were barely enough lifeguards on duty. 

“If we got a little more funding, maybe we could push for a little more staffing there,” he said.

But he and Jordan recognize that working with children is not always fun and games. Jordan has many stories of having to take care of children when something goes terribly wrong.

“I’ve seen the eyes of a 9-year-old boy just wide open and no life. I’ve felt the last heartbeats of an 8-year-old boy at another site, it was a hit-and-run,” Jordan said.

This is a responsibility he takes seriously. He said that people know he’s at the pool and they can ask for his assistance when things like that happen, but there is not much that he can do other than check the child's vitals and use the bag valve mask until EMS shows up. 

Jordan has two daughters. They both participated in the swim team and synchronized swimming programs through LA city pools when they were younger. He said that he reinstalled the love of sports in them from a young age. His youngest just finished high school at Immaculate Heart and his oldest is at LMU. 

As for Jordan’s future, he said that he wants to buy property in LA county close to the water. He also has family in Mexico so he is thinking about traveling back and forth when he retires. 

“I want to be a farmer. I want to have an organic regenerative farm that is close to the water. And do water sports.” 

The program is $10 and is open to nine to 17 year old kids.