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Lifeguards Compete in Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012
REHOBOTH BEACH — A “victim” is at a buoy in the ocean, approximately 150 meters from the shore.
A “rescuer” attached to a landline swims out to meet the “victim.”
Once they meet and the victim’s arm is raised, two lifeguards on land pull the landline to bring the victim and rescuer back to shore.
It’s all timed and in the end, there’s a winner: whoever finishes the task the quickest.
This is known as a landline rescue race, and it’s one of nine events lifeguards from Virginia to New York came to Rehoboth Beach to partake in Wednesday during the United States Lifesaving Association’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
“It’s a good community of lifeguards we have all along the East Coast,” said Jordan Lingo of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol. “Everyone takes their jobs very seriously and they like to compete. It’s definitely an exciting event.”
The events are designed to test the lifeguards’ skills and strengths and emulate the day-to-day experience of being on a beach patrol.
“It keeps everyone in top guard, working out for competitions,” said Sgt. Rick Cawthern of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
“It also helps us promote safety on our beaches.”
The landline rescue race was a popular pick when beach patrol members were asked which event was their favorite. That rescue method is used when victims need to be rescued in rough surf.
“It really separates the men from the boys in this one,” said Troy Cannatelli of the Dewey Beach Patrol. “It’s not just the strongest guys or the guys with the most endurance. It’s really who can maintain the strength for the full three-, four-minute pull, which is really difficult toward the end. You really get gassed.”
Other events include runs and swims, a rescue board race, and beach flags an event in which competitors line up facing down in the sand, and then on the start command, the competitors rise, turn and sprint to flags 20 meters away.
…Continue Reading at DelmarvaNow.com
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Friday, July 29th, 2011
By Eleanor Bailey The Almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.net
During the dog days of summer, lifeguards across the region can be taxed by record-high temperatures and humidity, not to mention overflow crowds seeking relief from the extreme heat.
However, some scored high marks recently for their pool patrol during the second annual Lifeguard Showdown held at the Community and Recreation Center (CRC) at Boyce May-view Park.
The team of Jonathan Quinn, Mike Kelly and Lilly Olsakov-sky, representing the host facility, captured the Golden Whistle, trophy and other prizes as champions while their co-workers from the center–Mary Eddins, Tim Mancini and Sam Mesinere–finished as runners-up. The representatives from the Whitehall Borough community swimming pool–Caitlyn Brown, Enrico Caparelli and Ed Lippl–took third place.
Contestants were challenged in seven disciplines.
After completing a 65-question written exam, teams competed in a swim relay as well as a rescue relay, testing their abilities to reach, throw, row and go while negotiating the obstacles the facility features, such as the lily pad and sand areas. They also towed a 10-pound brick on their stomachs.
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Ocean City lifeguards win Cape May County title for 13th time in 28 years
Ocean City lifeguards win Cape May County title for 13th time in 28 years
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
WILDWOOD CREST – Dylan Kosten’s busy night helped the Ocean City Beach Patrol win the Cape May County Lifeguard Championships on Sunday.
Kosten and partner Andrew Mockaitis were second to Avalon in the doubles row and Kosten returned to get third in the singles, a race won by Avalon’s Erich Wolf.
Then Kosten finished up by anchoring Ocean City to victory in the surf dash, giving O.C. its only win and the team championship by one point over Wildwood Crest.
“We thought about (winning the team title) before the surf dash because we knew we had the doubles row tiebreaker over the Crest if it ended up tied,” said Kosten, a 22-year-old sixth-year lifeguard. “Our surf dash won last year with practically the same lineup. The difference was my brother (Ian Kosten, a substitute).”
Ocean City, the defending champion, has won the Cape May County title 13 of its 28 years. Ocean City finished with 19 points, and Wildwood Crest was second with 18. Stone Harbor didn’t win a race but finished third with 17 points. Avalon was fourth with 16.
The crowd at the Rambler Road beach had kept a special watch on Wildwood Crest’s John Maloy and Avalon lifeguard Shane McGrath.
The event was postponed Friday due to lightning. The delay meant that the County Championships would be held the day before today’s exhausting Superathlon in Cape May, and Maloy and McGrath figured to be two of the top contenders at both events. Would they pace themselves at the County Championships? How many races would they enter Sunday?
Maloy delighted the hometown crowd with back-to-back victories in the swim and the run-swim, and McGrath won the doubles row with partner Craig Whitehead to start the evening.
But ultimately the day belonged to Ocean City’s Kosten, who will be in his first Superathlon today.
The O.C. surf-dash team consisted of Tony Mehalic, Dan Casey and the Kosten brothers. Ian Kosten took the team from sixth place to third with his third leg and Dylan Kosten, a rower and swimmer, won it with his anchor.
“I went a little south to stay out of a hole (on the surf dash course),” Dylan Kosten said. “I wanted to get to the flag and get back as fast as I can. I’m an OK runner. I never ran track except in grade school, but my dad (Paul) ran track. I do the best I can, and I focus on one thing at a time. First it was the rows, then the surf dash, and now it’s the Super. I did my best in the rows, but Avalon was better.”
Ocean City won the county title for the eighth time since 2001.
“We showed our depth today,” said Jeff Garbutt, an OCBP senior lieutenant and coach. “We have a lot of people on our patrol and we used some new guys today and they stepped up. This is a great event and we always love coming here. It’s like the Daytona 500, the first event of the season.”
In the doubles row, Avalon’s Whitehead and McGrath led Ocean City by two-boatlengths and held on after O.C. caught a little wave.
“It was nice rowing,” said Whitehead, the bow. “It felt like an early-season row, and there’s room for improvement, but we were happy about it.”
Wolf, a 13th-year lifeguard, held off Stone Harbor’s Darrick Kobierowski in the singles race to win by just more than two seconds.
“It’s nice to win on opening day, whether its baseball or rowing,” Wolf, 25, said. “I know what good rowers Ocean City and Stone Harbor are, but I had to row my own race. I was a little worried about not being in good enough shape, since I was teaching at Simon Gratz High School (in Philadelphia) until two weeks ago. I do my best to stay in shape when I’m there.”
Maloy easily won the swim, and with about 10 minutes of rest, he won the run-swim by more than a minute.
“The points are what it’s all about,” Maloy said. “I do what I can for the team. The Superathlon is for the team, too, but this was a situation where I want to help us as much as I can. I think I had too much on my plate last year (doing three races and only winning one.). I felt good today.”
Sea Isle City’s Jeff Buyse was battling with Ocean City’s Dan Callaghan as the paddleboard part of the rescue-board race neared its end in the box-course race. Buyse caught a wave and got ahead. Buyse did a pretty good 150-yard run to the finish line and won by 10 yards.
Visit pressofatlanticcity.com to view the scoring results and to read the rest of this article.
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