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Surf City 2017 Yearbook
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2017 Surf City Beach Patrol
season statistics:
Total Rescues – 99
Missing Persons Recovered by the Patrol – 19
First Aid Responses w/EMS – 9
Total Estimated Beach Population – 211,500
Average Water Temperature – 67.9 degrees Fahrenheit
Green Flags - 53 days
Green over Yellow Flags (Limited Bathing) - 19 days
Yellow Flags (Restricted Bathing) - 4 days
Red Flags (No Bathing) - 4 days
2017 Summer Recap
The season started with a warm ocean. That's nice. It's not that we didn't have to train in the bay at all this summer but I think I can count the number of days on one, maybe two hands in which we did. For the most part the ocean was very nice to swim in this summer with an average temperature of 67.9 degrees. As usual we hired quite a few Surf City lifeguards at the May tryout. Daniel Adjedi, Julia Fasano, Alyssa Gesek, Andrew Jorden, Josh Clingerman, Matt Ciattarelli, and Gwyneth Lavery. We also had some in-season hires including Pepper Kolman, Tim Byrne, and Pat Reardon. All did an outstanding job and I hope they return next season.
Notable Tournment Performances:
Surf City Epic
Charlie O. is slightly behind on the way out
of the surf in the Epic Run-Swim. Charlie catches a wave
and outhustles the competitor from Harvey Cedars to be the first Epic Run-Swim
finisher!
Seaside Park
Lifeguard Tournament
Josh, Charlie, Scott, and Max win the
Paddle Relay.
LBT Women's
Tournament
Gaby and Anna
win the Mile Row in absolutely horrendous conditions.
Perhaps the worst conditions I've ever seen a rowing event run. Only two
boats actually made it through the break and Gaby and Anna were the only one
able to actually complete the course in a really, really strong wind.
Pepper, Emily, Lauren, and
Alyssa come in 1st place in the Paddle
Relay. As above the conditions were really challenging.
Julia R. easily wins the Mile Beach
Run after coming in 2nd in the 2000' Paddle about 15
minutes before the run!
Pepper and Maria destroy the field in the
Buoy Rescue.
Long Beach Island
Championship "Islands"
Dave and Mark win the
Mile row and the Doubles row.
Pepper fights back in the
Iron Woman to 2nd place after coming in 2nd in
the 2000' Paddle earlier in the night.
Maria N. comes in 2nd in her first time
swimming the Women's Open Swim.
Island Beach Women's
Tournament
Pepper and Maria
again destroy the field in the Buoy Rescue.
Julie R. and Kelsey
decimate the field in the Paddle Pick-Up.
Emily, Beth, Julia F, and Lauren R. win the
Line-Pull.
The Swim Relay Team of Pepper,
Alyssa, Emily, and Maria hold off a
very talented and determined Lavallette Swim Relay to win this event.
Ship Bottom Barnegat
Bay Challenge
Dave and Mark
finish in 1st place.
National Park Women's Tournament at Sandy Hook
2017
Surf City EPIC
Lifeguard Tournament - Wednesday July 12, 2017
As usual the weather conditions
have to be threatening on the day of the Epic.
A storm was predicted later in the day and the
water temperature was 61 degrees in the morning.
We waited to make the call at 3:30 and it
looked like the weather would hold up and the water actually got warmer.
Thanks to Tony Nitti once again for adeptly
handling the MC duties.
For the first time in the
tournaments 12 year history the signature event, the Epic run-swim was a co-ed
event with Charlie O. and Julie R. competing for Surf City.
Charlie finished the run in 2nd
place and by the first buoy passed the competitor who was previously in first
place.
The Harvey Cedars competitor caught Charlie by the
end of the swim and pulled ahead of him.
In a dramatic finish Charlie caught a wave and
it came down to who had gas left in the tank to hustle out of the surf and get
across the finish line.
Charlie showed was heart was all about and
hustled across the line as the first place finish in the Epic run-swim.
Julie also had an outstanding finish coming in
7th
out of the extremely competitive field of 12.
After the cross-country scoring points were
tallied Surf City finished 2nd
in the event.
Meanwhile, the team of Josh
K., Pepper K., Alyssa G., and Max G. were battling it out in the paddle relay.
The Surf City paddlers put in a great effort
and Max entered the water for the last leg of the event in 2nd
place.
But the Harvey Cedars paddlers closed the gap and
took 2nd
in this event.
Surf City would have to settle for 3rd
in the paddle relay.
Next up was the swim relay
Pat L., going first and having a good swim, Pepper was next and also had a great
swim.
Daniel A. had some trouble sighting the buoy and had
to swim a bit out of his way to complete the course.
It was his first lifeguard race swim and this
pretty much happens to everybody.
It’s actually a good learning lesson because
you don’t forget to keep that buoy in sight!
Maria N. finished up the swim relay and Surf
City still managed a 5th
place finish.
Pat and Beth H. would be the
team for Surf City in the mixed doubles row with stand drag and they did a great
job finishing in 3rd
place.
It was an exciting race with some controversy.
Ship Bottom missed the first buoy in the row
course and rowed around it in the wrong direction.
The wind was blowing pretty hard from the
South and they obviously missed the buoy due to the wind.
This is of course part of showing your skill
as rower.
After the head judge disqualified them they
complained and were reminded about the many times Ship Bottom voted to
disqualify competitors in tournaments for similar rule infractions.
Remember when a Ship Bottom competitor said
that Surf City’s board didn’t touch the buoy in the paddle relay at Seaside
Park?
We were disqualified in that event, which we won’t by
probably 20 seconds, and came in 2nd
in the tournament because of the call.
Remember two years ago when the Surf City mile
row team went around the mile row buoy the wrong was after the course was
changed just minutes before the start of the race?
Ship Bottom voted to disqualify the Surf City
mile row team.
I could go on and on with these examples but
that’s not the point.
None of this seemed to sink in to the Ship
Bottom competitor so in the spirit of competition Ship Bottom was allowed to
keep their 3rd
place finish and it would mean they would come in 2nd
in the tournament instead of 3rd.
The final event of the
tournament was the Iron Man Medley which was required to have 3 female
competitors and 2 male competitors.
It was interesting to see how each team placed
their male and female athletes according to their strengths.
In the run portion of the event there were 3
men and 3 women and Julia R. put in a solid effort to Maria N. into the water
for the swim portion of the event in 3rd
place.
Maria was able to catch the Barnegat Light swimmer
and beat her to the paddle area to tag Josh.
Josh had a great paddle and pulled even
farther away from the Barnegat Light team.
Pat and Beth took on the rowing duties and
kept is safe and decided just to get from “A to B” since 1st
place was out of reach and 3rd
place was pretty far behind.
When it was all over Surf City finished in 2nd
place in the IM Medley.
When the points were tallied
Harvey Cedars won the tournament for the second year in a row with 38 points,
Surf City and Ship Bottom tied for 2nd
with 21 points but since Ship Bottom won an event and Surf City did not Ship
Bottom was awarded 2nd
place and Surf City 3rd.
Island Beach State Park came in 4th
with 16 points, Long Beach Township 5th
with 11 points, and Barnegat Light with 9 points.
Congratulations to Harvey Cedars for not only
winning the tournament but for winning 4 of the 5 events.
This is a feat only surpassed by the 2008 Surf
City team which won all 5 events and dominated pretty much every tournament that
year.
Seaside Park
Lifeguard Tournament - Monday July 17, 2017
Lauren R. and Pat H. were
Surf City’s competitors in the beach flags event and while they both have done
well in previous years this was not to be their year.
Pat
finished in 5th
and Lauren in 6th.
One slip in this tight field and you’re out.
Next up was Charlie O. to
start the Iron Man Medley with the run.
Charlie had a fantastic run and got Maria N.
into the water in 2nd
place.
Maria in her first off-island lifeguard tournament
had a very good swim and hit the beach in about 2nd
or 3rd
place before tagging Scott M. for the paddle leg of the event.
Scott paddled well and tagged the boat with
Pat L. and Max G. in 2nd
place.
When it was all over Surf City came in 3rd
place in the IM Medley, a good start on the tournament water events.
Dave B. and Mark D. were up next in the 1000’ Doubles row. Our first race in 5 years. The launch was good but Dave and I just couldn't "settle in" and ended up finishing in 2nd place.
The swim relay was next with Pat L., Pat H., Pepper
K., and Maria N. taking on this event.
Everyone swam really well with nearly straight
lines to and from the buoys and they finished in 3rd
place.
Ace paddlers Scott M. and Josh K. were out team for the paddle pick-up and they did not disappoint with a strong 2nd place finish in their first time in this event.
Next up was the boat relay with Dave and I
rowing the first leg.
We had a good row and got our second crew of
Pat L. and Max G. out in 1st
place.
They returned to the beach in 2nd
place before handing off to CJ T. and Scott M. who finished up the race for Surf
City in 3rd
place.
Great job boys!
It's been quite a few years since Surf City
has placed in the boat relay.
Josh K was the first paddler in the 4x500’ paddle relay and he put in a fantastic paddle pretty much blowing out the field before handing off the board to Charlie O. who caught a nice wave on the way in and opened up the lead even more before handing off the board to Scott M. who maintained the lead. Max G. brought the board across the line for Surf City’s first 1st place finish in the tournament!
As always the final event of
the tournament was the run relay.
Charlie O. started it out followed by Scott
M., Max G., Josh K., CJ T., and finally Pat H.
The boys executed all of the starts and tricky
buoy hand offs perfectly with Pat H. nearly catching the lead competitor in the
final leg.
Another Surf City 2nd
place!
When it was all said and done Ortely came in 1st place in the tournament, Ship Bottom 2nd, and Surf City 3rd. That was the first time the team has placed off-island in a tournament in quite a few years. It was nice to be "in the mix" again.
Upper Township
7 Mile Row – Wednesday July 19, 2017
Dave and I traveled down to
Strathmere to compete in the 25th
annual Upper Township Bay Row race.
All of the usual South Jersey competitors were
there.
Margate, Longport, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Avalon,
etc…
And oh yeah, the green head flies came in massive
numbers as well.
It was hot and windy with flies.
Not a good combination for a bay row.
We had quite a lot of problems navigating the
tricky course as all of the local boats knew exactly how to efficiently row the
course and we did not.
We did not row well but still managed to finish 9th
out of 35 boats.
Ship Bottom
Jack Donlon Memorial Lifeguard Race – Thursday July 20, 2017
We’ve never had good luck
with the Ship Bottom tournament and right off the bat we’d lost key competitor
Pat L. due to other obligations that night.
It’s always rough at this tournament and this
year was no exception.
The wind was blowing hard from the SE and the
ocean was very choppy.
In addition our lane had a big berm dropoff
which would make launches challenging.
The swim relay was first with
Maria N. starting it off followed by Pepper K. and finally Daniel A.
The ladies maintained contact with the slower
swimmers just enough so Dan could catch a swimmer and finish in 10th
out of the 11 teams.
Not bad considering our high school kids are
competing against D1 college swimmers.
Dave and I were up next in
the Doubles row.
Right off the start we caught a couple nasty
breaking waves which sent the boat flying into the air.
We got through them but lost quite a bit of
ground.
We managed to make up some of it and finish 4th
out of the 11 boats.
Pat H. and Josh K. were up
next in the paddleboard pick-up with swim and while Pat is swimming well it’s
another case of swimming against D1 athletes.
By the time the swim is finished Josh and Pat
were really too far out of it to comeback on the paddle portion or the event.
Next up was the boat relay.
Dave and I were having a pretty good row until
a wave caught us at an angle and we flipped the boat!
We both got banged up and were pretty
humiliated but that’s how it goes with ocean races.
We’ve probably ridden 50 waves this summer
successfully and 3 or 4 that got us.
This was one of the 3 or 4.
As I always say, “sometimes you get the wave
and sometimes the wave gets you.”
By the time the boat was retrieved and emptied
we were pretty much out of the race.
Nonetheless Scott M. and CJ T. as well as Gaby
H. and Anna E. did a nice job competing in the boat relay for Surf City in very
challenging conditions.
Coming off of a 1st
place finish at Seaside Park the paddle relay team of Josh, CJ, Scott, and Max
had high hopes for this paddle relay but it not going to be their night and they
finished out of the points.
The final event was the Iron Man Medley with
Pat H. running, Pepper swimming, Josh paddling, and CJ and Scott rowing.
The team put in a good effort but again
finished out of the points, which are awarded to places 1 through 5.
Long Beach
Township Women’s Tournament – Monday July 24, 2017
Last year the Surf City women
came in 2nd
place in this tournament to a very well-rounded Harvey Cedars women’s team.
The women had been training hard and were
looking forward to a good competition.
Well, the sea was angry this day my friends.
Very angry.
Like 20 knot winds from the Northeast, washing
machine surf angry.
LBT decided to go ahead with the tournament
and incredibly the rowing events…
Emily was up first swimming
the line with Lauren and Beth pulling.
I kept thinking they’ll never make it out with
the lines with this lateral current.
Either the bow in the line will become so
large it will stop the swimmer or the reels will run out of line.
But I was also thinking that if anyone can
make it out Emily can as she is very experienced swimming out the line.
She did make it out and she made it out in 1st!
But as usual we didn’t spot her touching the
buoy from the beach and waited on the pull so long that we ended up in 2nd
rather than 1st.
We are never going to let that happen again.
I should also add that one of the line
swimmers never made it to the buoy… or even through the surf.
Next up was Gaby and Anna in
the Mile Row.
They had been training hard and wanted to row
regardless of the conditions.
Out of the seven teams at the tournament, all
of the LBI teams plus Brigantine, only Surf City, LBT, and Harvey Cedars sent
out their Mile Row competitors.
The LBT boat got flooded in the surf and they
called it quits.
Harvey Cedars got out relatively cleanly.
Anna and Gaby struggled through some big waves
but finally made it out.
They caught the Harvey Cedars boat before the
first mile buoy and never looked back continuing to open up the lead throughout
the rest of the grueling row.
I don’t know the time but it seemed like a
half hour before they made it back to their lane and into the surf.
The plan was to ship the oars and get to the
back of the boat when they reached the surf zone but they got to the back of the
boat a little late, fell out of the seats and rolled to the low side of the
boat.
You know what that means, capsize!
They swam to shore and ran across the finish
line with an easy 1st
place.
Unfortunately Gaby tweaked her back as the boat went
over, or during the row, and took a precautionary ride to the ER to get checked
out.
Luckily she was fine!
Amazing performance by a boat crew that was as
determined as any I’ve ever seen.
Right before the start of the
Women’s 2000’ Paddle Board Julia R. asked me if she could do this race since she
really wanted to paddle tonight and would be running during the paddle relay.
I said sure.
Gotta love this attitude of going after a
2000’ paddle with the ocean this rough!
Julia was great and brought home a 2nd
place for Surf City.
Maria gets out to a good start. Nice high elbow!
In the next event, the
Paddleboard Relay, Pepper went out first and was able to get through the
ridiculously rough surf faster than the other women and opened up a large lead
for Surf City.
Emily was next and opened up the lead a bit
more as did Lauren in leg three.
As the last leg of the relay Alyssa brought
home another 1st
place for Surf City.
The big difference in this race was the
ability of the Surf City women to get through the surf.
In simultaneous "Epic style" event running the Mile Run was occuring during the Paddle Relay. Julia had a fantastic run and finished in 1st place!
Pepper and Maria were up next
in the Buoy Rescue and they increased their lead throughout the race.
Pepper was first to the marks and they were
first to the beach.
Well done.
Not even close. This is a very strong buoy rescue team.
The last event of the night
was the Paddleboard Rescue featuring the team of Maria and Lauren.
Maria had a great swim, getting to the buoy
first, but unfortunately it was the wrong buoy!
It was nearly dark at this point so that
should be kept in mind.
But as we all know it’s not uncommon for new
competitors to swim to the wrong buoy in their first few swimming races.
It’s basically a rite of passage.
We eventually sent Lauren out anyway after
like a 2 minute wait and they still came back in 3rd
place!
In the end Surf City easily won the competition!
National Park Service 33rd Annual Women's Lifeguard Tournament at Sandy Hook - Wednesday July 26, 2017
As usual we had a lot of our women take the trip to Sandy Hook to compete with women from up and down the East Coast. I know there were some good finishes butI forgot to write them down!
Bring Your Best Dish - Thursday July 27, 2017
Once again Collette hosted the annual "Bring Your Best Dish" Event. This year we had a trivia contest. No cell phones allowed!
Long Beach Island Championship – August 4/5,
2017
The tournament was held in Ship
Bottom this year with each of the squads taking on duties to run the event.
Also after many years not competing Beach
Haven was back.
Finally all 6 Long Beach Island teams would
compete again!
Dave and I were up first in
the Mile row.
As is usually the case at the Island
tournament the wind was howling out of the South and the ocean was “challenging”
to say the least.
We had a “so-so” warm-up row and unfortunately
I smashed my knee getting into the boat during our self launch.
In addition, we were in the North-most lane so
we could most likely have to get around a couple of boats if we were to do well.
The race started and we got out clean and made
up some water on Ship Bottom who were immediately to our left.
By the first mile buoy we passed LBT who
started to the right of Ship Bottom.
On the half mile leg of the race we got by
Harvey Cedars, Beach Haven, and Ship Bottom.
Only Barnegat Light was ahead of us at this
point but we had more than made up the staggered start and were able to win the
race.
Meanwhile Pepper was paddling
the Women’s Paddle and while I didn’t see the race quite a few people she had a
great race and finished in 2nd
place.
A very good start of the tournament for Surf City.
The Paddle Relay was next and unfortunately Josh
couldn’t attend due to work so CJ would fill in for him in the relay.
Scott had a great paddle and came out of the water with the front of the
field.
Island Beach Open Tournament - Tuesday A
Unfortunately when it was time for the Island Beach tournament we had lost a couple of our key competitors to school and other obligations. But it's a great tournament and good experience so we decided to go. Of course quite a few of our super competitive women came along to help out and prepare for the Island Beach Women's Tournament the next day.
The 8 person boat relay is always exciting. Here Dave and I battle out the
first leg with Brigantine
Dan tags Josh in the Rescue Race while Maria and Pat finish up the Line Pull
portion of the race.
Surf City's Island Beach Open Tournament Team
Island Beach Women's Tournament - Wednesday A
The Surf City women on the other hand were at full strength and more than ready for the Island Beach Tournament!
Gaby and Anna kicked things off in the Doubles boat coming in 4th place while Pepper and Maria easily handled the field with a 1st place in the Buoy Rescue. Julia and Kelsey perfectly executed the paddle pick up for another "by a mile" 1st place for Surf City. They had the race won even without the wave. It was really a superbly perfect race effort!
The team of Julia (run), Maria (swim), Alyssa (paddle), and Gaby and Anna finished 2nd in another perfectly executed race, the Medley race while we finally got our Line-Pull together and the team of Emily, Julia, Lauren, and Julia F blew out the field for yet another 1st place finish for Surf City.
Pepper and Gaby had some trouble coordinating their rowing effort and came in 4th in the Boat Swim while the swim relay team of Pepper, Alyssa, Emily, and Maria came in 1st in a hard fought battle with the always strong Lavallette women. It came down to the last leg and while the Lavallette swimmer did her best to try and regain the lead there was simply no catching Maria!
Surf City won this tournament by a landslide but unfortunately I don't remember the final point totals.
2017 Surf City Island Beach Women's Tournament 1st place team
Ship Bottom Barnegat Bay Challenge - Monday August 21, 2017
This year at the Barnegat Bay challenge besides Dave and I along with Pat and Caitlin rowed while Josh and Scott paddled the event. We had a good row and won the challenge.
Longport Hammer Row - Thursday August 24, 2017
One of my favorite bay rows on the summer is the Longport Hammer Row. It's always exciting to line up with 50 Van Duynes for this 4 mile race. This year we brought two boats. Daveand myself in one and Pat and Caitlin in the other. Throughout the first 3 miles of the race things went great for us. Dave told me we were with the lead boats (I'm not allowed to look). But then in the last mile or so I began to fall apart, then I really fell apart and we ended up finishing in 6th place!
Well that's it! Another safe and fun season in the books!