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You can download a high resolution photo with names here.  Password is Collette's last name.

 

2015 Surf City Beach Patrol season statistics:
Total Rescues � 210
Missing Persons Recovered by the Patrol � 19
First Aid Responses/EMS Response � 13
Total Estimated Beach Population � 195,800
Average Water Temperature � 67.3 degrees Fahrenheit
Green Flags - 51 days
Yellow over Green Flags (Limited Bathing) - 12 days
Yellow Flags (Restricted Bathing) - 10 days
Red Flags (No Bathing) - 0 days

 

 

Yet another season of really warm ocean water.  I don't think we had to train in the bay more than 7 or 8 days.  Except for a few days here and there the ocean was "swimmable" every day of the summer.  This summer we welcomed quite a few new lifeguards.  Coming to Surf City all the way from the MidWest were Morgan F., Hannah N., Alison S., Chad W., Matt P., Quentin B., Tim S., and Conner J.  Our new local recruits were CJ T. and Trent P.

Collette, Rip, and I would like to thank each of you for your hard work this summer.  Also special thanks to Eileen R., Anna, and Morgan for taking all of these wonderful pictures of the season.

 

Memories from the 2015 Season

  

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

  

  

  

     

  

  

    

 

Ship Bottom � Friday July 17, 2015

After being postponed for two days the Ship Bottom tournament was finally a go.  The surf was generally chest high with some head high sets coming through every now and then.  It was definitely going to be interesting.

Trent and I were up first in the 1000� Doubles row and the first three quarters of the race went pretty well.  We got twisted in a wave on the way to the beach and it ended up taking forever for one of us to cross the line.  5th place.  But of course this is the case when you don't bring the boat to shore for your exit.

     
"Yeeee - haw!!!"

Having volunteered just that morning for the 4x1000� paddle relay Dillon did his best to get the board out to the buoy, turn it into the wind, and get it back to shore and into Matt�s hands.  Matt caught a good set on the way out but eventually made it out and got the board to Tim and then finally to CJ.

  

  

  

 

The Iron Man Medley was the next event and Chad did a great job getting Q into the water in third place.  Q held that for the swim before tagging Eric for the paddle leg.  Eric lost a bit of ground and Trent and I were launched in the boat in 5th place and that�s where we ended up in the IM Medley.

  

     

  

Chad had a good swim in the paddle pick-up but the field was too strong on the board and we ended up out of the points in this one.

 
Upside-down paddle pick-up technique

 

The last event was the line-pull and Tim had an amazing swim reaching the buoy in first place.  It was a battle all the way to the beach with Harvey Cedars and in the end the Cedars swimmer was able to shed the fins just before reaching the beach and scrambled across the line just a fraction of a second ahead of Tim.  Still a very respectable 2nd place finish in a tough field for Tim and Matt and Eric pulling.

   

  

 

Surf City Epic � Monday July 21, 2015

After a two year hiatus the 10th annual Surf City Epic lifeguard tournament was on for 2015!  Before I get to the events I want to thank and congratulate our Surf City competitors and lifeguards who worked really, really hard to ensure that a very complicated tournament ran perfectly.  Eight difficult event in 2 hours� amazing.  In total seven teams attended the Epic, all six LBI teams and Island Beach State Park.

The namesake event of the tournament the �Epic� run swim and the mixed paddle relay would be the first events of the tournament with the paddle relay starting first and the Epic starting about 8 minutes later.  The theory being the Epic runners would arrive at the tournament site just as the paddle relay finished.  It worked well but would have been even better if the Epic start about 4 minutes after the paddle relay.  Newcomers Conner and Chad took on the grueling Epic.  After the 2 mile run it was Chad in 2nd place behind a very fast LBT runner and Conner in 4th.  When they hit the water it was evident that the swimmer in 1st ahead of Chad was going to be hard to catch.  Chad made up ground (water) on him throughout the swim but couldn�t quite catch him and had to settle for a 2nd place finish.  Conner easily overtook the 3rd place swimmer and finished the Epic in 3rd.  Factoring in the cross-country scoring of the Epic and Conner and Chad brought home a solid 1st place finish for Surf City.

  
Conner and Chad put a hurtin' on the field in the Epic run-swim winning the event for Surf City

  

Meanwhile the mixed paddle team of Emily, Lauren, Mitchell, and Eric battled a very, very competitive field and came out in 3rd place.  Overall a very good start for Surf City. 


The Paddle Relay start

 

  

  

     

 

Up next were Garrett and Alexis in beach flags.  While the Epic is best run during low tide the rowing events are better suited for deeper water so the beach flags would be run while the surf area filled in.  Unfortunately Garrett stumbled on the first round and was eliminated from the flags.  Alexis made it through the first round but was eliminated during the second, coming in 5th place and scoring points for Surf City.

 

Next up was the male and female swim relays.  These two events were to be run at the same time with the women starting 1 minute behind the men.  Hopefully this would make for an especially exciting event and not chaos!  Matt, Tim, and Q swam for Surf City against a furious field and had to settle for a 4th place finish.  Hannah led for the women, followed by Emily who handed Lauren a substantial lead.  Lauren never looked back and sealed the deal with Surf City�s second 1st place finish in the 2015 Epic tournament.

  

     

Trent and Ally had some unfortunately luck in the Mixed Doubles row.  Common course row starts are always tricky and unfortunately they were next to Island Beach who launched their boat directly into Surf City.  The inevitable tie up was the result with Trent and Ally missing the 2nd buoy and being DQ�d from the event.

  

The final event was the Medley Relay.  Chad had a great run getting Q in the water in 2nd place behind the Barnegat Light female swimmer who has won the Island Female swim for a number of years.  Q made up a good deal of distance during the swim and tagged Eric just a second behind the Barnegat Light tag.  Eric held onto 2nd place during the paddle and got Jenn and Ally in the water in the boat in 2nd place.  The mixed doubles boat from Ship Bottom tried their best to catch the Surf City women�s boat but couldn�t close the distance and Surf City finished in 2nd in the Medley relay.

  

  

After the points were totaled the winner of the 2015 Epic tournament was Barnegat Light, LBT in 2nd, and Surf City in 3rd. 

 

Seaside Park � Monday July 27, 2015

As always the beach flags was the first event in the Seaside Park Lifeguard Tournament.  Lauren earned a hard fought 3rd place and Eric 4th place in very competitive fields.  Every year I'm amazed at how fast the young men and women in this event run in the soft sand!

 

 

The next event was the Iron Man Medley.  Chad took on the running duties and got Q into the water in 4th place.  Q had a good swim, just a little of course near the buoy, it was pulling hard North out past the break.  Eric maintained 4th place as Trent and I were launched in the boat.  Island Beach State Park was just ahead in 3rd place and we were able to beat them to the beach for a 3rd place finish in the Iron Man Medley.

  

Trent and I were up again in the 1000� Double Row.  Our turn was not good as we rowed way past the buoy and ended up in 5th place. 

 

  

The swim relay was next with Conner leading off the first leg to the buoy.  He lost a good amount of time having to swim against the current back to our buoy before tagging Chad who had a nice straight swim to the beach.  Hannah was up next and also had a hard time staying on course to our buoy.  Q was the last leg and finished up the swim relay with another Surf City 3rd place.

Mitchell and Mike were our paddle pick up competitors but for some reason I don't have their finish recorded.  I do remember that another team caught a wave and ran over them.  Of course it was unintentional but that team should have pulled out of that wave to protect our paddlers.

The Row Relay was next with Trent and Ally going first, Tim and Q 2nd and me and Chad 3rd.  We�re still working on the boat relay so it was a victory just to compete the event safely!

 

 

We had high hopes for the paddle relay team and they didn�t disappoint.  Mitchell was out first and tied a few other teams (about) to the buoy before handing off to Lauren.  Lauren caught a wave on the way in and handed the board to Mike in about 2nd or 3rd place.  Despite having to get the board through a pretty big set Mike pulled the paddle team into first place.  Eric was the last leg and never looked back looking very powerful knee paddling the board to the beach for an easy 1st place finish.

  

 

The last event was the six person run relay consisting of Tim, Mike, Mitchell, Eric, Lauren, and Conner.  Unfortunately the first handoff was low and bounced off Mike�s hip and the buoy and race was lost!

Overall it was a good performance with Surf City coming in 5th out of 8 teams despite the mishap in the paddle relay and run relay.

 

Long Beach Island Championship � Friday/Saturday, July 31/August 1, 2015

Last minute rule change on the Mile Row and we had to round a buoy and not cross an imaginary line.  Seeing a collision coming at the buoy I decided to round the buoy the other direction and not get pinched.  We actually waited for Harvey Cedars to go first to avoid colliding with them.  We passed them on the way in and finished 2nd then got disqualified and finished last.

  

As usual I didn�t see Lauren in the 1500� paddle because I was competing in the mile row but heard she did well and finished 3rd in a very close and exciting race. 

 
Lauren battling in the women's 1500' paddle

  

 

Conner and Ashley were next in the buoy rescue and came up just short of the medals in 4th place.

  
Conner with a nice entry - Ashley demonstrating "high elbow" one arm drill swimming technique!


Conner scrambling for the finish while Ashely sizes up that shore break!


Yup, Ashley is on the other end of that line in the wave

Our young paddle relay finished in 5th place. 

 

     

  

  

 

  

 

Caitlin and Ally did a great job in the Women�s Doubles row and brought home another 3rd place finish for Surf City.

 

Q and I were up next in the Boat Rescue.  Q had a good swim and got to the buoy 2nd.  I got completely smashed by two waves and had to drain and relaunch the boat.  5th place.

  


"Boat to Mission Control... we're purely ballistic."

 

Chad put up a valiant effort in the Iron Man but came up just short of a medal and had to settle for a 4th place finish.

  

Unfortunately we didn�t have an entry for the Doubles Row but Hannah and Q were definitely looking forward to the Women�s and Open swim.  They both remained in 3rd place through the majority of the race with Q finishing in 3rd.  Hannah was in 3rd until the final seconds of the race when 4th caught a wave and beat her to the finish line. 

Chad and Mitchell finished 5th in the Paddleboard Rescue.  Tim was up next in the Line-Pull and had a pretty good swim just overcompensating a bit for the current but still getting to the mark in 2nd.  Ethan and Eric had a really nice pull, very technical, almost catching the 1st place team but in the end finishing in 2nd place.

  

 

  

Matt did quite well for his first go at the Singles Row on the way to the buoy but had some trouble returning in our lane and finishing in 5th.  Ally and Trent were having a good row until they hooked into a decent sized shore break wave and flipped the boat.  Luckily no one was hurt but they also ended up in 5th.

The final three races didn�t go our way either with three more 5th place finishes.  Mitchell in the 2000� Paddle, Beth, Kristi, Emily, and Lauren in the Women�s Paddle Relay, and Tim, Conner, and Matt in the Surf Dash.  It was a tough year for Surf City.  We�ll learn from our mistakes this year and surely come  back stronger next year!

 

Island Beach State Park Women�s Tournament � Monday August 3, 2015

Having won the Island Beach Women�s tournament in 2013 and 2014 the women knew they would be competitive in this tournament.  Brittany and Collette were up first in the Doubles boat and came away with a 3rd place.  Pretty amazing performance when you consider Collette hasn't raced in the boat since 2009 and Brittany has never rowed the bow!  Emily and Ashley were next in the Rescue Race (Buoy Rescue) and came away with a hard fought 4th place.

  

  

Lauren and Kelsey competed in the Paddle Pick-Up and in a very exciting finish ended up in 3rd place.  The next event, the Surf Medley (aka Iron Woman Medley) Beth was the runner, Hannah the swimmer, Lauren the paddler and Brittany and Collette the boat crew.  In yet another very competitive field the women had to settle for 4th place.


Lauren and Kelsey in the paddle pick up

  
Beth tagging Hannah in the Medley Relay

  

Emily once again swam out the line in the line-pull with Kelsey as the victim and Gaby, Anna, and Ashley pulling.  And again another 3rd place in a very close and exciting race.  Hannah and Collette were the boat swim team and after a pretty rough start finally got in sync for another 3rd place finish.

  

  

 

The final event of the night was the swim relay consisting of Emily, Morgan, Lauren, and Hannah.  It was another very exciting race with the Surf City women finishing in 2nd place.  When the point were tallied Surf City ended up in 3rd place overall in the tournament.

  

 

Harvey Cedars Cutters Cup � Thursday July 6, 2015

Matt, Tim, Q, Chad, Trent, Eric, and Ethan stepped up to tackle the Harvey Cedars tournament.  Seven guys taking on what should be a 12 man team.  And they did a great job.  The surf was pretty small, about 2 feet with a light East wind.  In all there were seven teams that attended, Surf City, Ship Bottom, Barnegat Light, Beach Haven, Harvey Cedars, Island Beach State Park, and Lavallette.

The first event was the Iron Man Medley.  Chad took on the running duties and got Q into the water in 4th place.  Q had a great swim coming out of the water in 2nd place.  Eric paddled to 4th place and Trent and Matt finished up in the boat in 6th place.

Next up was the Paddle Relay.  This is one we were taking easy since we didn�t have our paddlers at this tournament.  Tim, Eric, Ethan, and Trent did a nice job getting out and back to the buoy. 

  

Chad kicked off the swim relay and it looked like he got to the buoy in about 3rd place.  Q came back in a close 2nd place.  Matt got out in 3rd place and it was a very close race to the beach with Tim getting the wrong side of the waves and finishing up the swim relay in 4th place for Surf City.

  

 

The boat relay was next and our group of first year rowers did a fine job of keeping the boat in our lane.  Trent rowed with Ethan, Matt with Chad, and Tim with Q.  Keep in mind that none of these guys could row a stroke at the beginning of the season.  They did a great job, good lines to the buoy, clean turns, and the boat always came back in our lane.

  

The final water event was the big rescue relay.  Tim picking up Chad in the buoy rescue, Eric picking up Q in the board rescue, and Trent picking up Matt in the boat rescue.  I don�t remember their exact finish but I think it was 4th or 5th place.  Very much in the mix.

  

The final event was the block pull which was Matt, Eric, Chad, Tim, Ethan, and Trent.  After a very impressive pull by Eric the boys were in 2nd place but slid back to a still very nice 4th place finish.  Overall the guy did a fantastic job fielding a competitive team with only 7 men.  Kudos.

 

Surf City Banquet - August 8, 2015

Yup, you guessed it... '80's theme!

  

 

Another great summer season in the books...