By Irvine City News staff

The 8th annual World’s Largest Swimming Lesson will take place at aquatic centers, waterparks, pools and other facilities in more than 20 countries on June 22, including Irvine’s William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL) is a promotional event designed to build awareness and generate local and national press attention about the vital importance of teaching kids to swim to help prevent drowning.

Last year, more than 40,000 kids and adults participated in WLSL events in 24 countries, generating more than 200 million media impressions. Aquatic facilities, from Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Galveston, Texas to swim schools in India, to locations in Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, the UAE and South Korea, all taught the same swimming lesson with one goal in mind — send the message that swimming saves lives.

The World Health Organization estimates drowning is one of the top five causes of death for people ages 1-14 in 48 of the 85 countries it monitors around the globe. Research shows risk of drowning can be reduced by 88% if children participate in formal swimming lessons between ages 1-4.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, Irvine has the second-highest drowning rate in Orange County. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental injury and death for OC kids under 5 years old.

Children are most likely to die in a home swimming pool. In fact, a residential pool is 14 times more likely to cause a death than an automobile. But adults are at risk, too. Last month, a woman was found unconscious in a community pool in Irvine after reportedly exercising alone. Adults over 50 make up a third of all drownings, some studies show.

Adults and children (ages 3+) of all swimming levels may participate in Irvine’s WLSL event. Arrive at 5:30 p.m. to sign up for the onsite swimming lesson, which will be held at 6 p.m. Then, stay for a free recreation swim and a screening of the movie “Sing” that begins at dusk.
 
cityofirvine.org/news-media/calendar-of-events/event/worlds-largest-swimming-lesson

By Irvine city News staff

 
Thanks to the heavy rains that now seem to be over, this season is one of the greenest Irvine has seen in years. The hills and valleys have come alive with a level of lushness many residents have never seen. The growth along some trails is shoulder and even head high. It’s a great time to hike into our wild places to commune with nature at its most verdant. While less rain and hot days will quickly take the greenest tones from the most exposed meadows and hillsides, there should be flowers, wildlife and lush areas well into spring.

​Here are a few favorite trails, parks and other places to explore.
 
Bommer Canyon
The Nature Loop and Meadow trails have stretches where the greenery is so thick there’s little room to move aside for cyclists coming through. Last fall few who frequent the area could have imagined the dry and dusty area so changed. You can do a short hike or bike here, or for the ambitious, trek along the West Fork trail and others and end up 12 or so miles later in Laguna Beach.
 
Quail Hill Loop
This easily accessible loop trail passes some wetlands that may be home to fairy shrimp, the eggs of which can survive years of drought only to come to life when rain fills their vernal pools.
 
Quail Trail
It’s only 2 miles or so from the trailhead and other gates in Quail Hill to where we often turn around where Canyon Creek in Shady Canyon dead-ends near the gate to Laguna Wilderness. The first part of the trek is steep fire road, and it’s a hard climb. But after it switches to a stretch of single-track trail, you’re in for a ride, hike or run through flowering wild mustard that’s more than head high.
 
Shady Canyon Trail
If Irvine has a social trail a la L.A.’s Runyon Canyon, this is it. The stream under the wooden bridge was still trickling the last time we were on it, and one may see a deer or two on the Strawberry Farm side of the trail.
 
Turtle Ridge
For a downhill blast of a run or hike, have someone drop you at Bommer Vista Point at the top of Summit Park Dr., then take this mean green trail down to the meadows (one of the first times that word really fits) of Bommer Canyon.

By Irvine City News staff

The rankings are in, and the results are excellent: Irvine is in very good health. That’s true fiscally, where the city was ranked No. 1 among all cities of significance in the U.S., as noted elsewhere in this issue. It’s also true of the community’s physical health, or at least the opportunities for locals to lead an active lifestyle.

Irvine ranks 9th in the nation among the 100 most populated cities in the country when it comes to opportunities to lead a healthy lifestyle, according to personal-finance website WalletHub. The top city in the U.S., based on the study’s 30 key indicators of an active lifestyle, is Madison, Wisconsin, while the worst city is identified as Memphis, Tennessee.

Irvine came in first in the nation for number of sports clubs per capita. Other categories the city does well in include “overall bike score” (6th), “pick-up soccer games per capita” (6th), “hiking routes per capita” (8th), “fitness centers per capita” (8th), and “walking routes per capita” (9th).

Some of the rankings were surprising at first glance, such as Cleveland first in the U.S. with the most swimming pools per capita and Cincinnati (tied with four other cities), winning with the most public golf courses. Irvine ranked No. 63 out of 100 in both categories.

It makes a bit more sense when one thinks about it: winter cities with long, cold winters may have fewer private home pools, so lots of public pools make sense. And Irvine’s many neighborhood pools wouldn’t be included in the rankings because they’re not open to the general public.
​
The low public golf course rank adds a good deal of credence to those who support a public course at the Great Park.

Irvine’s lowest scores were for the number of ice-skating rinks (none-apparently the seasonal rink at Irvine Spectrum doesn’t count), public golf courses, public swimming pools, skate parks and fitness and aerobic trainers in the city. Oddly, Irvine ranked No. 1 for sports clubs per capita. Perhaps we prefer to self-train? Either that, or they don’t count trainers employed by sports clubs.

We also rank 44th in both “walk score” and 44th in “bike sharing programs.” The latter is hard to fix (though civic leaders should try), but adding bike sharing extensively throughout the city should be a no-brainer.
Oh, and the cost of bowling in the city ranks us at 83 out of the 100 biggest cities in the country.

While adding the new ice at the Great Park Skating Complex will definitely help in the city’s low ice-skating rink score, Irvine still won’t make up much ground on the leader: Minneapolis ranked 1st with 120.02 rinks per 1,000,000 residents. The new ice complex will begin construction this month, with a public groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. on Feb. 16, at the Orange County Great Park.

The new Sports Park at the Great Park will no doubt considerably boost Irvine’s rankings as a superior city for active lifestyles. The 53-acre first phase is scheduled for completion this year, and will include 24 tennis courts, six soccer fields, five volleyball courts and a playground plus three “championship” stadiums for soccer, volleyball and tennis, while the entire 175-acre complex will include 80 fields for baseball, softball, basketball, rugby, cricket and lacrosse.

Since Irvine only does so-so in rankings for tennis courts (No. 20), and baseball diamonds (No. 38), the new Great Park facilities will help the city’s overall ranking. We’d also like to see “soccer fields per capita added to the metrics, which would improve Irvine’s score.

And what about city recreation programs? Add Irvine’s stellar recreation and sports programs and classes from the Community Services Department into the mix, and we wager Irvine would lead as the healthiest and most active city in the nation.
 
For sports and recreation classes and courses see the always-excellent Inside Irvine magazine, or go to:

cityofirvine.org/community-services-department/classes-activities

For more active lifestyle rankings and statistics go to:

​wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-an-active-lifestyle/8817/

By Irvine City News staff

Irvine residents and city officials are justly proud of our extensive system of bikeways and pedestrian walkways. There are 301 miles of on-street bike lanes and 54 miles of off-street bikeways in the city. It’s a wonderful civic amenity for cycling commuters, athletes and active families. They’re pretty much all paved, however, which makes them perfect for road cyclists and strollers. But for hikers, trail runners and mountain bike riders, dirt trails are much preferred over pavement.
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Luckily, Irvine also has a nice selection of hiking and biking trails in the hills and open spaces of the city, many of which connect to an even more extensive trail system in the parks and open space areas beyond our borders. From fire roads and easy loops, to rugged single-track adventure trails, here are a few favorites.
 
Bommer Canyon
What was once a key part of Irvine Company’s cattle ranching operation is now open space and restored habitat for native plants and animals... and people. The trails here are well marked and popular with casual runners and walkers as well as more seasoned trail runners and athletes. The Bommer Canyon Trailhead is located off of Shady Canyon Dr. There is parking as well as restroom facilities at the trailhead, with additional parking at the nearby Turtle Rock Community Park. The Bommer Meadow and Nature Loop trails combine to make a pleasant and not-too-challenging loop that also skirts the historic ranch buildings, which are generally closed to the public. Bommer Pass cuts up and down a hillside to avoid the closed area, and then connects to Turtle Ridge trail, and West Fork, which passes under the 73 Toll Road, offering access to all of the many trails of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, which reach all the way to the ocean. Bommer Canyon also has additional trails that are open for tour-led trail events offered through the city, and on Wilderness Access Days when Irvine Ranch Natural Landmark trails are open.
 
Quail Hill Loop
The 1.8-mile trail in the Quail Hill open space between the 405, Shady Canyon Dr. and University Dr. is a near perfect urban trail. It’s easy to find and access, there’s plenty of parking, and the trail has a hill that will get heart rates up and offers views of the city. Many climb the hill and return, while others take the entire loop. While it’s far from a wilderness experience, there are hawks, and snakes and other wildlife to be seen. And when it’s green from the rain, the trail offers a welcome respite from our busy lives. Our only quibble is that the far loop of the trail should connect to University Dr. and the Jeffrey Trail overpass. We understand the conservation concerns, but connecting the trail will actually reduce the creation of side trails and make the loop more useable for hikers who want to go further.
 
Quail Trail
On the opposite side of Sand Canyon/Shady Canyon Dr. from the Quail Loop Trail, the Quail Trail runs behind the Quail Hill Community Center. Several gates connect into the neighborhoods, making the trail a much-used community asset. The trail then starts a steep ascent up a ridge and through the arroyos between the communities of Shady Canyon and Quail Hill. What is essentially a fire road narrows as it heads higher, with a bridge and a few switchbacks adding to the adventure. Mountain bikes frequent the trail, especially on weekend mornings, with some more courteous to those on two feet than others, so remain aware. The trail crosses through Shady Canyon and enters the Laguna Wilderness Park at around the 2-mile mark, connecting to its extensive network of trails. For those in good shape who want to venture out, starting at the Quail Hill Trailhead and being picked up at the Nix Nature Center trailhead makes for a fun and challenging hike.
 
San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary
The roads and trails around the marsh aren’t just for bird-watchers. There’s a variety of routes in and around the ponds. They’re basically a flat, offering an easy walk or hike for families, kids and those not up to a hilly and rocky route elsewhere. It’s a hidden natural gem that we think city, county and nonprofit stakeholders should do more to promote.
 
Serrano Ridge Trail
As the Quail Trail enters the Laguna Wilderness Park it becomes the Serrano Ridge Trail. During Wilderness Access Days challenging single-track trails with names like Rabbit Run, Cattle Crest, Fox Run, Butterfly Valley and Monkey Flower can be used to explore the land between and behind Shady Canyon and Bommer Canyon.
 
Shady Canyon Trail
This trail is a beautifully designed and maintained connector through the private community of Shady Canyon with plenty of parking on both the Quail Hill and Turtle Rock sides of the trail. The route includes a paved bikeway and an adjacent dirt trail component. One note of caution: road cyclists often treat the paved part of the route like a raceway. Though pedestrians have the right to walk on both segments, we suggest sticking to the dirt.
 
Turtle Ridge
While one can access this trail from the bottom of Bommer Canyon, most start on top at Bommer Vista Point at the top of Summit Park Dr. There’s a small parking lot at the trailhead. The single-track trail is tremendous fun to descend, with plenty of switchbacks as it heads down. At the bottom, one can go left to the Bommer Canyon trails or right along West Fork, which offers Laguna Wilderness access, but also the Ridge Park Road trailhead, with parking available at the top of Newport Coast community.
 
letsgooutside.org/explore

By Irvine City News staff

If we were to list the sports and recreational activities in which Irvine leads the region, soccer, cycling, swimming and diving, football, water polo, softball and baseball would certainly make the list. But winter sports probably wouldn’t. When one thinks of sports that are prevalent in the city, hockey and ice skating don’t leap immediately to mind.

That will likely change starting around January 2018, the announced date that a 270,000-square-foot Great Park Ice Complex opens at the Great Park Orange County. The state-of-the-sport Anaheim Ducks ice complex and practice facility will include four sheets of ice, one of which will seat 2,500 spectators. Three sheets will be NHL-size, while the fourth will be Olympic-size. It will be one of the largest ice facilities of its kind in the country.

The ice complex will likely become a destination for SoCal high school hockey leagues to host tournaments, and will also be home public recreational skating, competitive and recreational figure skating, curling, broomball and community events. There will also be a part-time training center, concessions, locker rooms and shops selling skating gear.

The Irvine Ice Foundation, a nonprofit organization overseeing the rink’s construction and management, will own the new Great Park Ice Complex. Ducks’ owners Henry and Susan Samueli will make a minimum investment of $35 million to the facility and the foundation.

The Anaheim Ducks RINKS Development Program, which includes both ice and inline facilities, began in February 2009 with one ice rink and one inline rink. Over the past six years the program has expanded to include seven local facilities, including one offering inline skating in Irvine.

The new ice complex at the Orange County Great Park will complement the 175-acre multi-sports parks, the first phase of which is set to debut next year, creating the premier recreational and competitive sports destination in Southern California.

If you can’t wait until the new ice complex is open, there are ice skating opportunities right now at OC Chill, the ice rink by the Giant Wheel at Irvine Spectrum. Open through Jan. 16, the rink can be an inspiring place to observe the diverse Irvine community, gliding effortlessly (and sometimes clumsily) across the ice.

Private ice skating lessons are available at the Spectrum rink. And check out Inside Irvine for skating and hockey classes through the Irvine Community Services Department. Those classes take place at Anaheim Ice, a pretty amazing ice facility designed by Frank Gehry, in downtown Anaheim.
 
SkateSpectrum.com
cityofirvine.org/community-services-department/classes-activities        
irvineinline.com

By Irvine City News staff

One of the most happening spots in Irvine on Friday nights in the fall is the Orange County Great Park. The parking lots are packed near the lighted fields of the South Lawn, where hundreds of kids from K-8th grade play flag football in the Matt Leinart League.

The emphasis is on community fun in the NFL-affiliated league, where both boys and girls of all skill levels enjoy games of competitive, confidence building, non-contact football. Eight games take place at once, as each of the four fields is divided in two. So 16 teams may be playing at once, creating a colorful and exciting scene as players don replica jerseys of real NFL teams.

The gridiron action at the Great Park serves as a preview of how exciting it will be as the phases of the 175-acre Sports Park debut.

Irvine is already an incredible center of youth and adult sports, and that status will only increase as the new Sports Park amenities open. Currently the city offers youth and club softball, soccer, baseball, basketball, football and lacrosse on its fields and community parks, as well as top-level swimming and diving at the Aquatic Center, and swim teams at community pools.

Irvine has Rangers, Colts, Dolphins, Tigers, Pythons, Nomads, and Slammers, among other teams in youth and adult sports leagues, including 25 Irvine-based, nonprofit youth sports organizations.

The city’s parks and recreation department already manages 41 soccer fields, 48 ball diamonds and 87 tennis courts in community and neighborhood parks.

Irvine’s amazing park system, which includes 19 community parks, 39 neighborhood parks and the Orange County Great Park, was No. 8 in the U.S. earlier this year in the Trust for Public Land ranking. The ranking is based on access, amenities, size and investment in each city’s park system. New York City was No. 7, just one point ahead of Irvine.

We’ll bet that ranking will only rise as the Sports Park acreage is added to the already impressive open space and park inventory.
 
parkscore.tpl.org/
rankings.php
 
cityofirvine.org/
parks-facilities

By Irvine City News staff

With traffic an issue in Irvine, any improvement to the transit infrastructure in the city is welcome. Irvine has some 54 miles of off-street bikeways that connect the community, along with 301 miles of on-street bike lanes.
Connecting the off-street miles together is key to making it more convenient and safer for cyclists and pedestrians to travel. That’s one of the purposes of the new $6-million pedestrian bridge across Irvine Blvd. in the Great Park Neighborhoods.

The contemporary design of the bridge makes it a cool contribution to connectivity in the area, especially as new communities being built by both FivePoint and the Irvine Co. take shape north of the Great Park.
The 282-foot-long bridge provides biking and walking access to important sections of the Orange County Great Park currently under construction – including Upper Bee Canyon and the Bosque. It will also connect to miles of bikeways and greenbelts in the Great Park, Great Park Neighborhoods, as well as the extensive Irvine and Orange County Bikeway systems.

When Irvine amended its Bicycle Transportation Plan in 2011, the highest priority from survey respondents was for “new off-street bikeways connecting to and through the Orange County Great Park.” The new bridge is part of that plan, and it joins other bridges in Irvine helping create connectivity, including the three bridges along the Jeffrey Open Space Trail from the 5 Freeway to Portola Parkway.

All should add to Irvine’s growth as a city amenable to cycling and walking. The city has a silver rating as a Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American bicyclists. Walkscore.com, a group that measures how bikeable and walkable cities, neighborhoods and even apartment communities are, gives Irvine a respectable score of 70, the highest in Orange County.
​
Building bridges between communities: it’s the Irvine way!

By Irvine City News staff

Everyone knows about Irvine’s admirable record of public safety. But there’s one area in which we can do much, much better: preventing drowning. According to the Orange County Fire Authority, Irvine has the second-highest drowning rate in Orange County. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental injury and death for O.C. kids under 5 years old.

Children are most likely to die in a home swimming pool. In fact, a residential pool is 14 times more likely to cause a death than an automobile. No kids live at your house, so you think your pool isn’t a concern? Some 35% of drowning occurs at someone else’s pool, and not at the victim’s home.

But it’s not just kids. Adults over 50 (a third of all drownings, some studies show) and anyone who swims alone are at risk.

The statistics are scary, which is why the city of Irvine and Irvine Unified School District are partnering with the Orange County Task Force for Drowning Prevention, including a $25,000 grant to support the efforts that the city council recently approved unanimously.

The 24-member task force includes the representatives from public health, public safety, government, nonprofit organizations, parents of victims, and OC Olympic swimmers Janet Evans and Aaron Peirsol.
How can we prevent drowning deaths? Education is key. Swimming lessons and close supervision are among the layers of safety recommended. Never rely on water wings, noodles, rafts, or other swimming aids. Learn first aid and CPR. Always keep a phone nearby to call 9-1-1.

For those with home pools, California Building Officials recommend a well-maintained, nonclimbable fence surrounding the pool with self-closing and self-latching gates. And since 46% of childhood drowning victims were last seen inside the home and not by the pool, it’s recommended that homes have self-closing, self-latching doors with automatic sliding door closers.

Irvine Unified School District has more about the ABCs of drowning prevention, available in several languages: newsflash.iusd.org/2016/06/important-water-safety-reminders/

And Orange County Fire Association has more information here: ocfa.org/SafetyPrograms/DrowningPrevention.aspx

Woodbridge High School junior Mark Tenney has big plans for the summer. He’s riding in and chairing a 5-day, 450-mile charity bike ride down the California coast to raise awareness about the global exploitation of children. His Ride the Railroad fundraiser will support Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), an organization that includes ex-Navy SEALS, Homeland Security and CIA operatives who now rescue children from sexual slavery, and place the children in vetted rehabilitation programs.

There are an estimated 2 million children being bought and sold in the child sex slavery industry,” Tenney writes. “In our modern society, it’s hard to believe that’s even possible, and yet it is happening every day, in every land, even in our own towns.”

Tenney needs support, and also a few more riders to take on the challenge. He’s hoping to raise $250,000, enough to save up to 250 children. He’s raised more than $80,000 from corporate sponsors that include PIMCO, Golden State Foods, and others.

To donate or sign up to ride, visit the website.
 
Ridetherailroad2016.com

Irvine is a paradise for those who love the outdoors. While many residents access the network of bike and hiking trails within and adjacent to the city, there are other trails in beautiful wilderness areas that are only open for scheduled activities or docent-led programs.

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy is a nonprofit organization created to help care for the 50,000 acres of permanently protected wildlands and parks in and surrounding Irvine. Because the Conservancy’s mission includes balancing recreation and conservation, many areas within Irvine Ranch Open Space can be experienced only via guided hikes. This includes some incredible trails in Bommer Canyon and above Quail Hill and Shady Canyon in the Laguna Wilderness Park.

For those who prefer to explore on their own, each month the Conservancy opens trail networks in certain protected areas to hikers, runners and mountain bikers during Wilderness Access Days.

Upcoming access days include trails in and around Bommer Canyon (April 16, May 21 and June 18).
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Wilderness Access Days in Irvine Ranch National Landmarks outside the city include Black Star Canyon (May 7) and Limestone Canyon Nature Preserve (April 2 and June 4). letsgooutside.org.