You can download a high resolution photo with names here. Password is Ashley's last name.
Surf City Beach Patrol
Home
Surf City Beach FAQ
Pre-Season Testing/Training
Lifeguard Tryout FAQ
Yearbooks
Hall-Of-Fame
Lifeguard-In-Training
Surf City 2012 Yearbook
You can download a high resolution photo with names
here.
Password is Ashley's last name.
2012 Surf City Beach Patrol
season statistics:
Total Rescues � 109
Missing Persons Recovered by the Patrol � 15
First Aid Responses � 17
Total Estimated Beach Population � 198,500
Average Water Temperature � 71 degrees Fahrenheit
Green Flags - 65 days
Yellow over Green Flags (Limited Bathing) - 12 days
Yellow Flags (Restricted Bathing) - 2 days
Red Flags (No Bathing) - 1 day
2012 was the best summer I can remember as far as warm, clean water is concerned. I don't think we trained in the bay more than two or three times because the ocean water was too cold. Even the jellyfish kept thier distance;) The fantastic water conditions also meant that there were lots bathers, and lots of bathers usually means more rescues. The increase in bathers along with the abundance of flash rips up and down Surf City increased our rescues to 109 from the 44 we recorded last season. EMS responses were up from 8 in 2011 to 17 in 2012 but it should be noted that 8 of those EMS responses were for fish hooks, which isover double the number that normally occur in a season. Thankfully all of our resces and EMS responses were relatively minor. I would like to thank everyone on the squad for all of their hard work and vigilence this summer, from the first day to the last.
This summer we welcomed five new lifeguards to our Surf City Family. Jaime M., Mitchell G., Emily R., Jeannie G., and Doug L. They all did a fantastic job on the beaches, fitting in with the veteran guards, and helping to make the squad a more effective lifesaving operation. I'm hoping that they can all come back next summer but of course I realize that sometimes other opportunities must be pursued.
I would also like to thank all of the lifegaurd parents for all of your support during the summer. Hosting dinners, taking photos, supporting the guys and gals at the tournaments, etc... It's really nice to have such that "base."
And finally a HUGE thank you shout out to our own Tony Nitti. Tony has been hosting our Epic Tournament for quite a few years now and also MC'd the Island Tournament this year. Everybody I spoke to noticed what a great job Tony did on the mic. I also want to thank Andre Garner and Collette for all of their help keeping the Island tournament moving along. I don't think it would have happened without those guys.
Tournamet-wise this turned out to be a banner year for the Surf City Women. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that this was the strongest female team I've ever seen. Ten years ago Lavallette had a very strong women's team, and they still do, but I think this team would have beaten that one too. The women competed in three women only tournaments this season, won two of them, and came in second the other one. And I should add that the second place team finish was due to a boat collision and a questionable finish in the line race. The team that beat them was squashed the two other times they competed against one another. Let me put it another way, the women competed in a total of 30 events this season. They won 14 of them, came in second in 10, and third in 3. Out of 30 events they won just about half of them and didn't place in only three!
While the guys didn't fare as well as the women it was still a good year with a 2nd place finish at Seaside Park (depite the crazy buoy distances), 2nd place at the LBI Championship, 2nd place at Ship Bottom, and 3rd at Harvey Cedars.
Surf City 2012 - Most Valuable Competitor - Jaime
Congratulations to Jaime and all competitors a fantastic
competition season!
1. Jaime - 38 points
2. Jenn - 33 points
3. Lauren - 29 points
4. Brittany - 26 points
5. Emily - 21 points
6. Evan/Matt K. - 16 points (tie)
8. Ashley - 15 points
9. Harrison - 14 points
10. Jeannie/Mark - 13 points (tie)
12. Kyle/Nick - 12 points (tie)
13. Doug/JD - 10 points (tie)
Next year I'm going to count the points earned in the Island Tournament as
double since it's our big show.
(1st place - 3 points, 2nd place - 2 points, 3rd
place - 1 point)
Epic - Thursday July
12, 2012
1st Place Swim Relay - Jeannie/Lauren/Emily/Jaime
2nd Place Paddle Relay - Jenn/Brit/Emily/Lauren
2nd Place Line Race - Jaime/Jeannie/Emily/Jen/Brit/Lauren
1st Place Medley Relay - Jaime/Lauren/Jenn/Brit
Harvey Cedars Cutter's
Cup - Monday July 23, 2012
3rd Place Medley Relay - Doug/Jaime/JD/Ryan
1st Place Block Pull - Matt G./Harrison/Kyle/Doug/Matt K./Evan
Seaside Park - Monday
July 30, 2012
2nd Place Beach Flags - Lauren
3rd Place Medley - Doug/JD/Ryan/Evan/Nick
3rd Place Doubles Row - Matt K./Mark
2nd Place Swim Relay - Lauren/Jaime/Harrison/JD
3rd Place Paddle Pick Up - Ryan/Mitchell
1st Place Boat Relay - Jenn/Brit, Evan/Nick, Matt K./Mark
2nd Place Paddle Relay - Kyle/Ryan/Lauren/Nick
2nd Place Run Relay - Kyle/Nick/Harrison/Caroline/Jaime/Lauren
Lavallette Open -
Tuesday July 31, 2012
3rd Place Row Out/Swim In - Harrison and Evan
Lavallette Women - Wednesday August 1, 2012
2nd Place Rescue Relay -
Jeannie/Emily/Ashley/Lauren/Jaime/Jenn
1st Place Line Pull - Emily/Collette
1st Place Row Out/Swim In - Jaime/Jenn
1st Place Iron Man Medley - Jaime/Lauren/Jenn/Brittany
1st Place Swim Relay - Ashley/Jeannie/Emily/Jaime
1st Place Doubles Boat - Jenn/Brittany
Long Beach Island Championship - Friday/Saturday August
3/4, 2012
1st Place Mile Row - Matt K./Mark
3rd Place Buoy Rescue - JD/Ashley
1st Place Women's Doubles Boat - Jenn/Brittany
3rd Place Boat Rescue - Harrison/Evan
1st Place Doubles Boat - Matt K./Mark
2nd Place Women's Swim - Jaime
3rd Place Paddleboard Rescue - Ryan/Mitchell
1st Place Line Pull - JD/Kyle/Matt G.
1st Place Singles Row - Evan
2nd Place Mixed Doubles Row - Jenn/Nick
3rd Place 2000' Paddle - Paul
3rd Place Surf Dash - Harrison/Jaime/Doug
Island Beach Open - Monday August 6, 2012
3rd Place Surf Medley - JD/Ross/Evan/Nick
3rd Place Rescue Race - JD/Jaime/Doug/Evan/Ryan/Ross/Matt K./Mark/Nick
Island Beach Women - Tuesday August 7, 2012
1st Place Doubles Boat - Jenn/Brittany
1st Place Rescue Race - Jaime/Ashley
2nd Place Paddle Pick-Up - Lauren/Caroline
3rd Place Surf Medley - Caroline/Jaime/Lauren/Jenn/Brittany
1st Place Line Pull - Emily/Ashley/Lauren/Caroline/Brittany
1st Place Boat Swim - Jaime/Jenn
1st Place Swim Relay - Ashley/Jeannie/Emily/Jaime
Ship Bottom - Monday August 13, 2012
2nd Place Boat Pick-Up - Matt K./Mark
2nd Place Paddle Relay - Kyle/Ryan/Ross/Harrison
1st Place Line Pull - JD/Kyle/Doug
3rd Place 1500' Paddle - Ryan
3rd Place Boat Swim - Harrison/Evan
(the following events do no count towards MVP scoring)
NJ State Championship Row - Tuesday August 21, 2012
2nd Place - Dave/Mark
Barnegate Bay Challenge - Wednesday August 29, 2012
1st Place - Dave/Mark
Memories from the 2012 Season
9th
This year, for a change of pace, the Epic would be a
woman�s tournament.
The teams would
still consist of 6 competitors and the events would still be Epic in nature.
Would the curse of the tournament threatening conditions of the last 8 Epic tournaments hold
for 2012?
Only the first Epic tournament was held in conditions that didn�t include
either freezing water, lightning and rain, giant surf or a combination of all of
the above.
And the answer to the question is ...
Yes.
The curse is still in
effect as the surf was chest high.
After much deliberation it was decided that the tournament would go on with one
alteration.
The rowing events would
have a water finish.
Competing teams
included
The first event was the Doubles Row.
Last year�s Island Tournament gold medalists Jenn W. and Brittany H.
would row for
The 4 person swim relay was the next event with Jeannie G.
swimming the first leg.
As
Jeannie noted after her leg, �there was lots of elbows getting thrown
underwater.�
Jeannie had a good swim
in really tough conditions and tagged Emily R. in about a mid pack position.
Emily had a great swim bringing the
The line race was next and it was a super exciting event.
The current was pulling pretty hard to the South by this time and Jeannie
did a great job holding course to Emily.
Meanwhile the buoy swimmer, Jaime made a beeline to Emily and pulled her
to Jeannie.
Now it was time for the
pullers,
The final event was the medley relay.
Jaime had a great swim and came out of the water just behind the Ship
Bottom swimmer in 2nd place.
Lauren took off on the board and caught a bomb on the way in and rode it
all the way to shore.
Jenn and Brittany took off in the boat and never looked back easily
putting a over a minute on the 2nd place team.
A close 2nd place finish for the Surf City Women. They would go undefeated
in the rest of the summer tournaments.
When it was all said and done Ship Bottom won with 32
points while
Harvey Cedars
Cutter�s Cup - Monday July 23, 2012
Last year the Cutter�s Cup was cancelled midway through the
tournament due to thunder and lightning.
This year the weather was supposed to be nice on the day of the event but
for a while it looked
like the outcome (weather-wise) might be similar to last year.
There were some ominous clouds, a little thunder and lightning, and
plenty of sun showers.
But luckily
the weather held up and the tournament went off without a hitch.
Surf City!
The first event was the giant medley relay with Ryan C. and
Doug L. each running 800m.
Making things even more difficult was the fact that they had to run up from the
hard sand to the soft sand three or four times during each leg of the run.
And making things even more difficult was the fact that while at the
Captain�s meeting we were instructed to start our runners in the �opposite�
lane, i.e. lane 8 starts in lane 1, we and perhaps one other team were the only
teams that followed the rules.
As a
result our runners ran a much longer course and JD entered the water a good 20
seconds behind the field.
JD and the second leg swimmer Harrison had a great swim moving
the team up a few places before sending Ross out for the first leg of the
paddle.
Ross and the second leg Kyle
made up a few more places before sending Matt and I out in the boat.
Just at the end of the launch we hit one of those waves that nearly sends
the boat vertical and we came down hard.
Hard enough that Matt K. let fly with an (rare for him) expletive.
When it was all said and done we came in 4th place in the
Medley Relay.
The next event was the paddle relay and first leg Matt G.
got off to a great start handing the board off to Ryan C., who handed off to
Ross, who handed off to Kyle.
There
was no �love� from the ocean for
The boat relay was up next with Matt and I rowing the first
leg.
We didn�t get off well on the
launch and hit the beach in 3rd place.
Evan and Harrison were next followed by Kyle and Nick.
I don�t know what place we came in but I don�t think we scored any
points.
The rescue medley was next with Doug swimming out to �buoy
rescue� Jaime.
They had a good leg
and came in around 4th place.
JD took off swimming to the buoy in the next leg of the event with Ryan C.
heading out on the board to pick him
up.
I think they crossed the line in
3rd place just a hair ahead of Ship Bottom.
Lauren R. would handle the 800m running duties in the
Woman�s Medley relay and she tagged Jaime for the swim in third place.
Jaime was having a good swim but it was really dark and she had a hard
time finding our lane and hit the beach a few lanes North of our lane.
Emily took off on the board and returned from a strong paddle to get Jenn
and Brit in the water in 5th place.
Jenn and Brit had a fabulous row: Long and strong, straight out and
straight back to our lane for a disputed 4th place finish.
I saw them coming in a close 3rd to Lavallette but the judges
decided otherwise.
Unfortunately the
Women�s event didn�t score team points.
Oh well, maybe next year.
The final event was the one I�d been waiting for since it
was rained out last year, the block pull.
We sent our strongest puller, Matt G. out first and he didn�t disappoint,
handing the block off to Doug near the top of the pack.
Apparently every team had put their strongest puller first to try and avoid
entanglements on the transitions.
Doug had a strong pull handing off to
When the points were tallied Harvey Cedars came in 1st
place, Barnegat Light in 2nd, and
This year�s
Doug L. ran the 800 in the Iron Man Medley in really swampy
high tide conditions getting Jaime M. into the water in 3rd place.
I want to give a big "thank you" shout out to Doug, Ryan, and Caroline for doing
the 800 running this year. Those 800 beach runs are brutal. The sand
is generally like quick stand, you're running up and down hill, you're running
against a really solid field, and if that's not enough it's a big part of the IM
Medley race.
Jaime tagged Ryan C. for the paddle portion of the event in 4th
place and Evan and Nick finished up the race for a 4th place finish
for
Matt K. and I were up next in the 1000� Doubles and after a
good launch we veered off course just a bit but got out to the flag with the
lead boats.
But then something
strange happened and a few seconds later coming off the turn we were over a boat
length behind!
We ended up finishing
third but as I mentioned above there was something strange going on with those
buoys.
The swim relay was next with Lauren starting things off and
having a really good swim against a tough field of swimmer, tagging Jaime in 4th
place.
Jaime quickly reeled in the 3rd
place swimmer but had to work hard to finally move
Ryan C. and Mitchell G. were up next in the paddle pick-up.
Ryan C. had a great paddle getting to the buoy just a second or two
behind the first place team.
But
then something strange happened.
Five seconds later the first place team was way ahead of us!
There was something definitely going on with those buoys and when Doug
got back to shore after paddling Mitchell out he told me that the Seaside Park
buoy was literally 10 yards (!) closer to shore than our buoy.
Okay it�s all starting to make sense.
Ryan and Mitchell finished 4th in the paddle relay.
Normally when I go for my warm-up row if the buoys are 5 or so feet
in or out it�s not a big deal and on this occasion the Jet Ski was still moving
the buoys around while we were warming up.
But from what Doug told me this was kind of ridiculous so I had a quick
talk with the officials and asked them to check the buoy distances.
A few minutes later the Jet Ski was pulling our buoy closer to shore and
the
Jenn W. and Brit H. were the first leg of the Boat Relay
and made quick work of the other women�s boats handing off the boat to Evan and
Nick in first place.
Evan and Nick
opened up the lead a bit further and Matt K. and I sealed the deal with a 1st
place by a mile finish for the boat relay.
Hmm, I wonder how those first few events would have gone had the buoys
been fairly positioned?
Kyle was off like a bullet for the first leg of the paddle
relay with Lauren R., Ryan C., and Nick L. finishing up for a strong 2nd
place finish.
Going into the last
event we were tied with
Kyle, Nick, and Harrison did a great job
during the first three legs of the final event, the run relay.
The plan was to get a lead and then have the women hold on to it.
Caroline, Jaime, and Lauren did a great job keeping the momentum but in
the end got passed by
So this year the defending
team from
Lavallette Open
Lifeguard Tournament �
Harrison, JD, Nick, Evan, Kyle and Jaime wanted to have a
go at the unique 6-person Lavallette tournament.
We hadn�t been invited to this tournament since 2008 when we won the
tournament in dominating fashion.
Since we haven�t been invited for a few years this tournament hasn�t been on our
�training radar� so the team went up really to see what it�s all about and to get some
additional race experience. The team had a good time and gained some valuable experience.
The best finish was a 3rd by Harrison and Evan in the
Row-Out/Swim-In.
Lavallette
Women�s Lifeguard Tournament � Wednesday August 1, 2012
The conditions for the women�s tournament couldn�t have
been any different than that of the open tournament the night before.
On the drive to the tournament it was raining but Lavallette decided to wait it out and
the rain eventually stopped.
The ocean was nearly a sheet of glass with just a small shore break.
The first event of the night was the rescue relay
consisting of a buoy rescue, board rescue, and boat rescue.
Jeannie swam out as the victim while Emily swam with fins and a buoy to
pick her up.
They returned to the
beach just behind the first place Lavallette team.
The rest of the field was pretty far behind.
Ashley then swam out to the buoy and Lauren headed out on the board to
pick her up and both of them paddled to shore.
Again they hit the beach in second place behind Lavallette.
Jaime swam out for the final portion of the event and Jenn was launched
in the boat as Jaime touched the flag.
While they made up some distance on the Lavallette team the ladies would
have to settle for a second place finish in the first event.
Next up was the line pull with Emily swimming out and
Collette pulling.
Emily had a
fantastic swim, straight as an arrow to the buoy in first place.
Collette pulled steady and strong for a first place
Jenn and Jaime were next in the row out/swim in and first
year rower Jaime did a great job in the boat staying controlled on the oars.
With Jenn at the helm they made it to the buoy line first with yet again
Lavallette close behind.
Jaime had a
perfect swim back to our lane to seal the deal for another
With only a few short minutes rest Jaime was back in the
water for the 1000� swim in the first leg of the Medley Relay.
Despite being tired she held off the field and Lauren entered the water in
good position.
Lauren had a strong
paddle and Jenn and Brit were launched just a few seconds behind the Lavallette
boat.
It was kind of close to the
flag but on the way back to shore Jenn and Brit opened up a respectable lead for
yet another
Emily, Brit, Jenn, and Lauren
were the paddle relay team and they had a few problems with the water
exchanges but still managed to finish in the points in fourth place.
At this point in the tournament although we�d won 3 of 5 events and came
in 2nd and 4th in the other two, Lavallette was either
winning the events we weren�t or coming in right behind us.
Because of this the score was very close, 21 points for
Ashley would lead off the critical swim relay with a
perfectly straight swim to the flag coming in second place just behind the
Lavallette swimmer before handing the torp to Jeannie who had just stepped on a
really sharp shell that pierced her foot while launching the boat.
It was a pretty bad cut but not bad enough to stop her from swimming. I pulled the shell out with a
pair of tweezers, taped her foot, and she was good to go.
Jeannie closed the distance on the Lavallette swimmer and Emily caught
her on her way out on the next leg.
Jaime had a good battle with the Lavallette swimmer but slowly she pulled away
and claimed another first place finish for
Meanwhile Brit who was coming down with a cold wasn�t
feeling too hot but still had to get in the boat for the final event of the night, the
Doubles Row. Brit and Jenn put
in a fantastic row easily handling the field for an amazing fifth first place
finish for
51st
Since the USLA Nationals would be held on the weekend the
Island Tournament would normally take place it was decided to move the
As always the tournament would start with the Mile row. Matt K. and I would be rowing it this year.
At the �
The wind was blowing fairly strong from the South, the
ocean was on the verge of white capping, and the surf was messy 2-3� waves, typical tournament conditions.
Evan and Ross got us out to a good start and while we hit a few waves on
the way we didn't get any significant water in the boat.
We rowed pretty conservatively to the first mile mark and I noticed that
we were beginning to pull away from the field.
After turning the mark we started to put some pressure on the oars
(translation "let 'er rip") and
had a pretty good lead by the second mile mark.
The end result was a 1st place finish for
JD and Ashley did a nice job in the buoy rescue coming in 3rd
place in the challenging conditions.
Kyle, Ryan, Mike G., and Paul were looking strong in the paddle relay but also
didn�t get much help from the waves and ended up just out of the medals.
Defending Woman�s Double row champions Jenn and Brit has a
rough first half of the race but still managed to get to the buoy
tied for first, once they made the turn and found their rhythm they pulled away from the
field and easily repeated their 2011 gold medal performance.
Harrison and Evan were up next in the Surfboat rescue event
and put in a solid performance for another 3rd place finish for
When the points were tallied at the end of the first night
Barnegat Light was in the lead with 32 points, Harvey Cedars in second with 35
points,
Saturday Night
Matt and I were first to race again in the second night of
the tournament in the 1000� Doubles row.
After a 20 minute wait to reset a buoy the race was on.
We got out to a decent but not great start, made it out of the turn first
and opened it up on the way back to shore for another 1st place
finish for
Doug and Jaime would represent
Veteran Ryan and first year lifeguard Mitchell were up next
in the paddle rescue and unfortunately Ryan got hit with two breaking waves that
the rest of the field didn�t have to deal with.
Despite getting to the buoy in nearly last place Ryan and Mitchell fought
their way back into the field for a 3rd place finish!
JD swims best when he�s fired up and he told me that when
he saw those �
Evan had been gunning for the Single row for a few years
now and I had a feeling this might be his year.
The start was clean and halfway to the buoy it was clear this was going
to be a two boat race between Barnegat Light and
Jenn and Nick were up next in the Mixed Doubles row. There was a bit of confusion with the surf "mixing" things up at the end. Jenn and Nick finished in the medals in 2nd place.
Paul was up next in the 2000� paddle which was lengthened
from 1500� just this year.
Paul got
off to a good start, moved into 3rd and remained there for the
remainder of the race.
The final
event, the Surf Dash, proceeded much the same way with Doug coming out of the
water in a close 4th place, Jaime moving Surf City back into 3rd,
and Harrison securing a 3rd place finish in the Surf Dash for Surf
City.
When all the points were tallied Barnegat Light was once
again crowned the Island Champions amid ever growing eligibility verification
concerns.
The home grown team from
While the conditions were perfect for a lifeguard
tournament, relatively flat water and small waves, it turns out it wasn�t to
be our night.
Matt and I came in a
disappointing 5th in the Doubles boat while the paddle relay team of
Matt G., Nick, Ryan, and Ross came in 6th.
In the Iron Man Medley, JD swam, Ross paddled, and Matt and I rowed to a
4th place finish.
Matt and I making the turn in the 1000' Doubles, Lavallette to the North, Island
Beach to the South
The Swim Relay
The Paddle Relay
The Row Relay
Since we were down a rower we took it easy in the boat relay while Harrison, Doug, Jaime, and JD finished in 7th, just out of the points in the swim relay.
Line-Pull and Paddle Rescue legs of the Rescue Relay
The Boat Rescue leg of the Rescue Relay
In
the final event JD swam out with the line to pick up Jaime while Doug and Evan
pulled them in.
Ryan paddled out to
pick up Mitchell and Matt and I rowed out to pick up Nick for a 4th
place finish in the Rescue Relay.
When all the points were tallied we came in 7th out of 12 teams.
Once again the conditions were perfect for a lifeguard
tournament; small waves, flat water, and a light South breeze.
As had been the case for the ladies all summer, tonight would again be their
night.
After winning the Lavallette tournament last week this would be another
good test for the
First place in the Doubles Boat
Jaime and Ashley were our team for the buoy rescue with
Jaime swimming out to pick up Ashley.
Jaime had a good swim only having to fight against the current a little
bit at the end of the swim to make it to the buoy.
They headed for the beach tied for first place but slowly pulled away
from the field and brought home another 1st place finish for
1st Place in the Buoy Rescue
Lauren and Caroline were next in the paddle rescue with Lauren paddling out to pick up Caroline. Lauren got to the mark about 3rd or 4th and the women had a good paddle back to the beach catching a wave. While they crossed the line in 2nd place the winning team didn�t cross the line with both competitors holding the board as we were told at the Captain�s meeting.
2nd Place in the Paddle Rescue
Recently back from Spain Caroline ran the 800 to start the
Iron Woman medley.
It seemed like a
long run and she got Jaime into the water in about 2nd or 3rd
place.
Jaime and Lauren finished in
about the same place in the paddle pick-up portion of this event.
Jenn and Brit had a solid row but we never found out what place we came
in.
I think it was 3rd or
4th.
1st Place Line Pull
Jaime and Jenn would have another shot at the
Row-Out/Swim-In event they had won a week earlier in Lavallette.
Once again they were first to the mark and Jaime was first in the water.
Ship Bottom put up a good fight for a while there but again the final
result was never in question; another 1st place for
The final event was the swim relay with Ashley swimming
first, Jeannie second, Emily third, and Jaime fourth.
Ashley would be starting off against the ace swimmer from Ship Bottom and
she did her part very well staying very close to the Ship Bottom swimmer.
Jeannie made short work of passing the next Ship Bottom swimmer and
gaining the lead for
When the scores were tallied the women of
Ship Bottom Lifeguard
Tournament �
After a three week postponement the Ship Bottom tournament
was finally on.
And it was
definitely worth the wait.
While
there was some wind chop and a little bit of surf, the conditions were
pretty good.
The boat pick-up was first with Matt K. rowing out singles
to pick me up.
While this was the
first competition singles row of Matt�s career you�d never know it from his row.
He rowed a straight line to the buoy about even with the lead boats.
I hopped in and we were off.
Right off the bat I could see it was going to be us and BL.
We had a little lead on them but they caught a little runner so we�d have
to settle for 2nd place.
Doug would again take on the running duties in the Iron Man
Medley and he had a great run getting JD into the water in 3rd place.
JD in turn got Ross into the water in 4th place which is right
where we�d finish up after Evan and Nick�s boat leg of the event.
The line-pull was up next and JD had another PERFECT line
pull swim hitting the buoy a few seconds ahead of the second place BL team.
I also must give Evan a ton of credit for feeding the line over the
whitewater.
Matt G. and Evan started
pulling and never looked back.
Another 1st place finish in line pull for
The paddle relay was next with Kyle leading off and getting
to the mark in 3rd place.
Matt and I were up next in the first leg of the boat relay
and we had a decent row before handing off the boat to Kyle and Nick, who were
followed by Evan and Ross.
It would
be another 4th place finish for
Ryan C. took on the always tough 1500� paddle and got off
to a good start, moved into third place and remained there for the duration of
the race.
A solid result in a really
tough field.
The final even was the boat pick up in which
Hugh Lavery and Mike Dunn Inducted into the SCBP "Hall of Fame"
The Surf City Beach Patrol Banquet/Hall of Fame induction of Mike Dunn and
Hugh Lavery was a very nice event this past August.
Left to Right: Mike Garrison ('88 to '92), Tom Smith ('87 to '89), Anthony
Swale ('87, '88, '95), Mike Dunn ('97 to '04), Mark Dileo ('84 - ), Mike Nitti
('87 to '02), Rip Wagner ('80 - ), Hugh Lavery ('83 to '85)
Mike (The Last Boy Scout) Dunn worked for the Surf City
Beach Patrol from 1998-2005. An outstanding all-around lifeguard, Mike always
demonstrated a high degree of responsibility and professionalism while carrying
out his duties and was a leader on the squad from his earliest days on the
patrol. Always a strong swimmer who became an exceptional paddler and rower,
Mike represented SCBP in many off-Island tournaments and was consistently a key
performer during the Island championships. Most noteworthy among these was a
rare �double gold� in 2004 when he won the Mile Row with Captain Mark Dileo, and
followed up the next night with a victory in the Singles Row.
Hugh (The Godfather) Lavery was part of the Surf City
Beach Patrol for three years in the mid 1980s as a college student at Rutgers
College. In addition to competing as a collegiate rower on the Rutgers Mens
Heavyweight Crew team, his competition specialties on the beach patrol were
pulling line and swimming, having earned medals in both disciplines. He was a
part of the 1985 competition team which came very close to winning the Island
Tournament. Hugh was the consummate professional lifeguard. A model of
integrity, Hugh set a high standard for beach supervision, public relations, and
handling emergency situations that have served as a model for decades. Perhaps
his greatest contribution, and indeed his lasting legacy, may be his legendary
status as a pioneer and vanguard for other guards to travel to Surf City to
become a part of the beach patrol. As last count, no fewer than twenty current
and former SCBP members can track their lineage to Hugh�s fateful decision to
make that historic pilgrimage. To this day Hugh works out with the patrol during
his summer vacation offering advice and words of wisdom to the current Surf City
Lifeguards.
As you would expect, Mike Dunn was gracious in his
induction speech and Hugh was loquacious in his. Mike talked about how
working on the patrol was a transformative experience for him, and inspired him
to a career in health sciences. He also talked about the many great lifelong
friends he had gained from his years as a guard. Hugh acknowledged everyone
from badge checkers to Grammy award winning musicians in his induction
soliloquy, but was sincerely appreciative of the moment and the value of his
time on the patrol.
We were feeling pretty good for the real "NJ State Championship Row Race," the Hammer Row. The start of this race is always a fiasco in this race with 50+ Van Duynes. Generally the top 5 boats just go and then they sound the "start" horn! This year was a little different. They instructed boats from Northern beached to line up at the South end of the starting line (a farther distance to row) and Southern teams to the North. We tried to get into a decent starting point but once again lost valuable time with a few collisions right in the beginning of the race. We were able to get out with the lead pack of seven boats. The rest of the field was probably a minute behind. We had a good row and ended up finishing in 6th place 30 seconds behind the lead boat. A good improvement from our 2011 finish of 14th place.
Wednesday August 29, 2012 - Ship Bottom Barnegat Bay Challenge - 5 miles
Having just barely won this race last year we knew we'd have our work cut out for us against the "Swift" boat from Margate. In addition, there was a solid crew from North Wildwood that showed up. Surf City showed up in force to this one with Jen and Brit rowing our ocean boat, Kyle and Evan rowing our bay boat, and Nick and Joe rowing a borrowed Ship Bottom boat. Nice job to everyone who participated. It was nice to see all of the Surf City faces on the water for a final race.
Evan and Kyle racing with the LBT boat
Nick and Joe
The conditions were absolutely dead flat. Like sheet of glass on the water flat. Really a beautiful night for a row. The start was fair and after a minute or two I knew the boat from North Wildwood was going to be tough. We came into the turn around Flat Island just behind Margate, with North Wildwood just behind us on the inside, trying to cut us off. But then it became really shallow and they collided with us. We were locked up and they were stuck in the sand. Dave yells to me "you've gotta get out and push!"
Meanwhile Margate is rowing away with all of the haste they can muster. I hop out the back and push the boat for a good 30 feet through the muck and jump into the boat, or almost... I kind of slip and fall to one side throwing the boat out of balance for a good 5 or 10 seconds. After I got back in the seat and started rowing I noticed how winded I was from the run. I was thinking the North Wildwood guy better be in pretty good running shape... Now we're a good 5 or 6 boats lengths behind the Margate boat and a few boat lengths ahead of the North Wildwood boat. I wasn't too concerned with the North Wildwood boat but I have to thank them for pushing us on that 2.5 mile leg North to Bonnet Island. We really put the steam on and were able to get into a good swing. Coming around Bonnet Island Dave said "Look to your right." I was kind of surprised to see us about a boat length behind the Margate boat. It was going to be a battle to the finish.
Dave and Mark
The famous rowing coach from Harvard used to tell his rowers that "goin' crazy" is sometimes okay because it allows each rower to express their individuality. As long as you keep the form and stroke it can give the boat what it needs to win at the end of a long, hard race. Well Dave and I started "goin' crazy." Last race of the season. Neck-and-neck. It was going to be close but when it was all over we won by 3 seconds. A great end to a great competition season.
See you next season!
Surf City Beach Patrol, 813 Long Beach Boulevard, Surf City, NJ 08008
Surf City Borough Hall (609) 494-3064
dileomd@comcast.net