“Those guys are my hanai family,” O’Brien said of the guards, using a Hawaiian term that roughly translates to “adopted.” “When I was growing up surfing here at Pipeline, there were no ifs, ands or buts about it. I had to come home and go right in front of where my father was stationed.”

John John Florence, who finished third in the 2014 world title race, credited the lifeguards with getting him to where he is today.

“There were probably so many times where I would have been so much more unconfident in paddling out without having the lifeguards there,” said Florence, who also spent his childhood surfing the North Shore, from Rocky Point to Pipeline.

Some have even been rescued themselves. Nathan Fletcher broke his femur at Pipeline in 2009 and was pulled to safety by the guards.

But for all the stories of the major saves, Jesse King, a 28-year-old guard, noted that keeping swimmers out of dangerous areas was as important as the rescues.

“The most successful days are when we don’t get wet,” he said.

On a recent day when 25-foot waves were rolling into Waimea Bay, a group of tourists walked up the beach, wearing bucket hats and toting hot pink inflatable armbands and inner tubes.

Noticing potential novices, a guard in the tower grabbed a bullhorn.

“Just wanted to let anyone arriving at the beach know that we’re not allowing swimming today without fins,” the guard said.