Lifeguards rescue dog swept out to sea by rip current off San Diego coast

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A pup that was swept out to sea by a rip current must be feeling doggone lucky after her unlikely rescue off the San Diego coast.

Sadie, a black Labrador retriever-mix, stole away from the home where her owners were staying during a football game last month, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said in a social media post. While her owners tracked Sadie down the coast using an Airtag on her collar, surfers in Ocean Beach alerted lifeguards that a dog had been swept into the rip current near the jetty, officials said.

A U.S. Coast Guard boat and lifeguards searched the area after the dog disappeared into the channel, officials said. Lifeguards Garrett Smerdon and Jack Alldredge joined the search on personal watercraft and spent more than an hour looking. Then, they were told they’d only look for another 10 minutes.

“At that point, I kind of just said, ‘Please let us find this dog,’” Alldredge said.

Knowing that Labs are water dogs and fighters, there was a good chance Sadie was still alive, Smerdon said. They were called off, but while they were still far out, Alldredge thought he saw something.

“We got closer and closer, and then we realized it was her and we were pretty excited,” he said.

They raced over to Sadie.

“She was super happy to see us, for sure,” Smerdon said. “She was tired.”

Sadie, who was about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) offshore near South Mission Beach when she was found, was transferred to a surf boat that brought her to shore, where she was reunited with her owners, officials said.

In a video message, Sadie's owners, Alexis Barcellos and Brandon Valdez, said they would be forever grateful.

Barcellos recalled in the video that just as the search was being called off, she heard a call on the radio that they had found the dog.

“And we kind of just held our breath, and they were like, and the dog is alive,” she said. “And we kind of just started crying right away.”

Sadie's paws and nails were badly damaged from trying to climb onto the jetty, so Barcellos and Valdez had to carry her around for about a week, Barcellos said Thursday. But she has been in great spirits and this week Sadie made her first trip to the pet store since the rescue to pick out a treat and took her first 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometers) walk.

“We are just beyond grateful she is home safe with us,” she said.

This photo released by San Diego Fire-Rescue shows Sadie, a black Labrador retriever-mix, on a lifeguard boat heading to shore after being rescued from the water near Mission Beach, San Diego, Nov. 23, 2025. (San Diego Fire-Rescue via AP)

This photo released by San Diego Fire-Rescue shows Sadie, a black Labrador retriever-mix, being picked up by her parents Brandon and Alexis after Sadie was rescued from the water near Mission Beach, San Diego, Nov. 23, 2025. (San Diego Fire-Rescue via AP)

This photo released by San Diego Fire-Rescue shows owner Alexis reuniting with Sadie, a black Labrador retriever-mix, after Sadie was rescued from the water near Mission Beach, San Diego, Nov. 23, 2025. (San Diego Fire-Rescue via AP)

A bipartisan group in Congress sent a letter Thursday to the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency criticizing that group for opening an investigation into who leaked information that led to the agency clearing 23 Chinese swimmers after they tested positive for performance enhancers before the Olympics in 2021.

“While WADA claims that their motivations are innocent, it appears this investigation’s intent is to intimidate and suppress whistleblowers,” said the letter sent to WADA president Witold Banka, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “If these allegations are accurate, WADA is not defending clean sport but is continuing to defend a cover-up.”

WADA confirmed earlier this year it had launched “Operation Puncture” to learn about the leak and what motivated it, but denied it was looking for the person who blew the whistle.

The letter, from Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Chris Van Hollen and Reps. John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi, is the latest in a yearslong string of hostility between WADA and the U.S. government, which has cut off its annual payments to the drug-fighting organization, demanding more transparency.

WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald offered a three-paragraph response outlining the history of the case and stating that while he did not have information about “Operation Puncture,” being conducted by the WADA Intelligence and Investigations department, "I can state that WADA I&I is not chasing whistleblowers but rather it is seeking to find out how the leak happened and what was the real motivation behind it."

About the cases themselves, Fitzgerald said: “Politically motivated allegations of a cover-up were made without evidence and have ultimately been proven to be entirely false.”

The letter comes at a critical juncture for international sports in the U.S., with the World Cup coming next year and the Summer Olympics taking place in Los Angeles in 2028.

In 2024, U.S. authorities opened an investigation into the Chinese swimmers case, which has led to speculation that WADA officials are reluctant to come to the United States, worried they will be subject to subpoenas.

The letter asks Banka to answer a series of questions, including whether WADA will release all internal communications related to the swimmers' case and the ensuing “Operation Puncture.”

WADA commissioned its own report on the handling of the Chinese swimmers case that concluded it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.

That report has been widely questioned by critics who would like to see more documentation and information about the case.

FILE - President of World Anti-Doping Agency Witold Banka, of Poland, speaks at the opening of the WADA Symposium for Anti-Doping Organizations at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 18, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)