GUARDED: Women, Water, and Saving Lives

by Debbie Friedman

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published January 30, 2026

About the author

Debbie Friedman began her career as a California State Parks ocean lifeguard in 1978, one of the first women to hold that position on the California coast. She worked for twelve years in the surf, and never left it behind.

GUARDED: Women, Water, and Saving Lives is her debut memoir. Debbie takes the reader alongside her and the pioneering women who came before and beside her — into the surf, the absurdities, the physical demands, and what it means to save a life, including your own. Readers keep mentioning the humor — turns out being a woman in a job nobody thought women could do was rich material.

She lives in Aptos, California.

Reviews

[Melissa Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the women who have bravely paved the way! Five stars to learn the details on how women broke in to a male-dominated profession. And she seems lovely. But overall book rating an “I liked it,” so a 3 for me. Perhaps JG parents will find it more compelling.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book! A look at women lifeguards in California. Breaking into a career of only men Debbie shares hers and other women’s stories of the work of saving lives and the work of proving women could lifeguard. The stories are interesting, raw and captivating. Well worth a read.

[Debbie Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll never look at lifeguarding the same again. Not my past, or my future. This is the "Before Baywatch," story and I'm proud to share it.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish every high school would add this book to their curriculum. The barriers women faced in getting their careers is well explored.