This post was updated May 22 at 1:54 a.m.

About 10 miles away from campus, staff at UCLA’s waterfront recreation center are providing a natural escape for students and veterans.

The Marina Aquatic Center – which opened in 1965 – offers water sports equipment, kayaking rentals and sailing classes, said Kylie Lausten, the center’s acting director and a UCLA alumnus.

The MAC also offers a recreational therapy program with the West Los Angeles Veterans Collective – which helps support transitioning veterans – once a month, Lausten said.

Lausten, who has been at the center for nine years, said she rides her electric bike from El Segundo to Marina del Rey – almost seven miles one way – in the mornings to begin work at the center at 9 a.m.

“My favorite part of the job is just seeing people succeed and fall in love with water sport and outdoor recreation,” Lausten said.

At the MAC, Lausten said she balances administrative duties with managing water activities, which often leaves her staying past working hours. She added that she oversees customer service and program operations, prepares the class catalog and supports instructors.

Summer is the busiest season for the center because it hosts summer camps for children and manages high demand for equipment rentals, Lausten said.

“I have what I consider to be the best view of any office at UCLA,” Lausten said. “My office looks out over the water – I see dolphins out my window sometimes.”

The MAC also offers a recreational therapy program, which includes kayaking and paddleboarding classes for local veterans, Lausten said.

“Getting to see them feel that connection to the water and really experience that freedom out on the water is something that they’re really grateful for and is really fun to facilitate,” Lausten said.

Beyond giving people a chance to unwind, the MAC also hosts UCLA’s men’s and women’s rowing teams, sailing team and junior rowing team for their practices, Lausten said.

Marcel Stiffey, the head coach of the UCLA men’s rowing team, said he is the first to arrive at the center every morning about 5:15 a.m. Stiffey, who commutes to the MAC 40 miles each way from Newport Beach, added that he prepares the center for his team’s early morning practice.

“I’m from Newport Beach, and so I wanted to stay local. I don’t want to coach in the middle of the country. I want to stay where my roots are,” Stiffey said. “That’s what led me to apply for UCLA.”

The men’s rowing team hosts an annual regatta against the University of Southern California at the center, turning the space into a race venue for the day. MAC staff help the team host the event by closing the space to the public and setting up equipment, Stiffey added.

“Whatever the team needs, they’re there to support,” Stiffey said. “That’s one of the cool things about the program being out of the MAC is that we’re not isolated. We have a lot of support behind us.”

Nora Lee, who has been the center’s business and administrative supervisor for 31 years, said she oversees its everyday business operations, including finances, staff scheduling, hiring and training.

Graduating students often visit the center to take graduation photos, Lee said.

“It’s the students that come down, and they have their cap and gowns on, and they go out on the water, and the photos that they take,” Lee said. “They appreciate the facility, appreciate how different it is.

Lausten said she enjoys seeing students try water sports for the first time and grow confident in activities like sailing and paddling. The center is a place for students to step away from academics and connect with the ocean, she added.

“Water sport and sailing, paddling, all of them really offer this really unique kind of outdoor environment, ocean connection, that you kind of have to put your full self in, and it’s unlike anything else,” Lausten said. “Watching people figure it out and fall in love with it in the same way I did, I think, is really special.