Almost two dozen teenagers had to be rescued from the water off a San Diego shore after nearly drowning. 
 
 The students were members of a swim team that were visiting the San Diego coast to compete in a long-distance swim as part of their annual beach swim training, officials said Tuesday. 
 
 That's when a few began to panic in the rough conditions. 
 
 "A couple of them started to panic which triggered other ones to get a little bit scared and it just snowballed into a mass rescue," said Sgt. Ed Harris with the San Diego Lifeguards. 
 
 Officials said lifeguards on surfboards, jet skis and boats plucked 22 students out of the water, some in shock and suffering from hypothermia. One unconscious 16-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital. 
 
 Authorities said the windy and cold conditions were too much for the teens. 
 
 "We wouldn't advise a group this big to go in with the conditions we were experiencing," said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. John Sandmeyer. "You can be the strongest swimmer in a pool and not be used to chop in your face, not to be used to the cold water when you go from 76-degree pool to 59-degree ocean." 
 
 The school district said the students and coaches met with lifeguards before the swim. The lifeguards said they recommended the students postpone the swim, but were told by the coaches that the students could handle it. 
 
 "Hopefully it's a life lesson that helps them down the road," said Harris. 

 San Diego Lifeguards launched a mass rescue at La Jolla Cove Tuesday, pulling nearly two dozen high school students from the water who were trying to swim from the cove to the shore. NBC 7's Wendy Fry reports. (Published Tuesday, March 29, 2016) 
 
 San Diego lifeguards launched a mass rescue at La Jolla Cove Tuesday, pulling nearly two dozen high school students from the water who were trying to swim from the cove to the shore, officials confirmed. 
 
 The mass rescue began around 1 p.m. in waters off La Jolla Shores beach, near Kellogg Park. 
 
 San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) spokesman Lee Swanson told NBC 7 that a large group students from the Rancho Verde High School swim team in Moreno Valley were swimming near La Jolla Cove. 
 
 “We believe that a couple of them started to panic, which triggered other ones to get a little bit scared,” said Sgt. Ed Harris with San Diego Lifeguards. 
 
 In total, between 18 and 22 students had to be rescued from La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores, SDFD officials said. 
 
 One student was unconscious and was taken to a local hospital. The student had swallowed some water and was showing the beginning stages of hypothermia, said Marine Safety Lt. John Sandmeyer. 
 
 Harris said 64 high school swimmers and three coaches were out swimming in the area. The group, Harris said, was about a half-mile out from the shore when the large number of swimmers had to be rescued. 
 
 Once panic set in, “it just snowballed into a mass rescue, so we put boards in the water, we put [jet]skis in the water, we put lifeguards in and boats, and just everyone,” Harris said. 
 
 18 to 22 Student Swimmers Rescued From La Jolla Cove 
 
 Harris said the swimmers had gone out into the water against the advice of lifeguards. 
 
 At around 1:45 p.m., many of the student swimmers were gathered at La Jolla Shores, where officials were conducting a head count of the group. On land, many of the minors were receiving medical attention from lifeguards. 
 
 Sandmeyer soon confirmed all of the swimmers were accounted for. Officials said all of the students were expected to be okay. Many of the teens were visible shaken from the ordeal. 
 
 "Fortunately, it's a good learning experience," Sandmeyer said. 
 
 Harris told NBC 7 the water was about 59 degrees Wednesday, with waves between two and four feet at the time of the rescue. It was windy at the beach, he said. 
 
 The National Weather Service (NWS) had issued a high wind advisory through 3 a.m. Wednesday, but for San Diego County deserts. 
 
 Nina Esplin witnessed the mass rescue. She told NBC 7 she saw a lifeguard bring a young swimmer to shore using a waverunner. 
 
 Esplin said she also saw a man who appeared to be scuba diving rescued from the water. 
 
 “They both looked like they were okay when they got to shore,” she explained. 
 
 Firmen Sowers also witnessed the commotion at the Cove. 
 
 “Just a bunch of kids coming out the water – it looked like a swim team,” Sowers told NBC 7. “They looked like they were all freezing, making their way out.” 
 
 Rancho Verde High School, part of Moreno Valley's Val Verde Unified School District, is located about 88 miles north of La Jolla. 
 
 A message posted to the Rancho Verde Athletics Twitter feed earlier Tuesday showed members of the school's swim team posing for a photograph at UC San Diego, which is about 12 miles from La Jolla Cove. 
 
 Chris Wynn, director of Security with the Val Verde Unified School District, told NBC 4 in Los Angeles that the student swimmers from Rancho Verde High School were in La Jolla for beach swim training. 
 
 Wynn said the students met with a lifeguard and were briefed on ocean swimming before going out on their swim. While in the water, Wynn said one of the student swimmers had some type of panic attack. 
 
 While rescuing that student, Wynn said lifeguards began pulling other swimmers from the group to shore as well, just to escort them in safely. 
 
 Wynn said only the one student was transported to a hospital as a precaution. The other swimmers were fine, Wynn said, but some were cold from the chilly water temperatures. 
 
 He said the ages of the students are unknown, as if the skill level of the swim team. The district, Wynn said, is not expecting further updates on the incident as of 4 p.m. Tuesday. 
 
 No further details were released. Watch NBC 7 News at 4 p.m. for updates from the scene. 

  San Diego lifeguards rescued 20 Moreno Valley-area high school swim team members from the ocean off La Jolla Tuesday when they had trouble making a long-distance swim. 
 
 One student was taken to a hospital and was expected to be released, and paramedics treated at least seven others who swallowed too much water or became chilled. 
 
 The mass rescue involved 62 swimmers from Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley 
 
 Lifeguards had given an ocean safety talk to the students and coaches before they set out from La Jolla Cove to swim toward a buoy a half-mile out into the ocean, lifeguard Lt. John Sandmeyer said. 
 
 As the dozens of swimmers set off, some ran into difficulties because of the gusting winds and choppy surf. Some drifted north and were rescued close to La Jolla Shores about 1 p.m. The water was about 59 degrees, and the waves were about 2 to 4 feet tall, and winds gusted from 11.5 to 17 mph, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Lee Swanson said. 
 
 Lifeguards helped 20 students back to the beach between the Cove and the Shores and additional swimmers straggled to shore wherever they could. They were gathered at Kellogg Park and all were accounted for, Swanson said. 
 
 He said most of the swimmers were fine, and were showering on the beach before joining the others. 
 
 Lifeguards coordinated with coaches who had a list of all the students as they confirmed that each swimmer was safe.
– A swim team's trip to San Diego went horribly wrong Tuesday, and lifeguards ended up having to rescue almost two dozen high school students from the water at La Jolla Cove, NBC San Diego reports. The teenagers were in San Diego to compete in a long-distance swim, and 64 of them (plus three coaches) went in the water against the advice of lifeguards, says Sgt. Ed Harris of San Diego Lifeguards, explaining that it was windy at the beach, the waves were two to four feet high, and the water was about 59 degrees. When the group was about half a mile from shore, some swimmers started panicking, which triggered others to panic, and "it just snowballed into a mass rescue," Harris says. Ultimately, 22 students were pulled out of the water by lifeguards on surfboards, jet skis, and boats, ABC News reports. A 16-year-old girl who had swallowed some water was unconscious and beginning to show signs of hypothermia; she was taken to a local hospital but was expected to be released, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The teens attend Rancho Verde High School, about 88 miles north of La Jolla; a rep from the school district says they were briefed on ocean swimming by a lifeguard before entering the water, but the lifeguards say their advice was to delay the swim. "You can be the strongest swimmer in a pool and not be used to chop in your face, not to be used to the cold water when you go from 76-degree pool to 59-degree ocean," a San Diego lifeguard explains.