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Surf City 2022 Yearbook
Download high resolution photos here. Password is Ashton's last name.
2022 Surf City Beach Patrol
Season Statistics:
Total Rescues – 61
Missing Persons Recovered by the Patrol – 7
First Aid Responses w/EMS – 7
Total Estimated Beach Population – 178,800
Average Water Temperature – 65.2 degrees Fahrenheit
Green Flags - 68 days
Yellow Flags (Limited) - 11 days
Red Flags (No Bathing) - 1 day
2022 Summer Overview
The water was COLD during the summer of 2022! Whenever the water starts out really cold and stays that way for a few weeks I think to myself, "I hope it's not going to be one of those summers." Unfortunately it was one of those summers. On August 11 the water temp was still in the 50's. 59 to be exact, on the 12th it was 61 and the running average was 62.2 F! On August 13 it finally warmed up to 70 and stayed there or higher for the duration of the summer, which was only about 2 weeks. The summer average was 65.2. This is the second coldest average water temperature I've recorded in the 22 years I've been recording this data. If your curious the coldest average I have on record was 63.8 in 2002!
For 2022 we welcomed 10 new lifeguards to the patrol. Steph, Jack, Erin, Ashton (former SCBP LIT), Haley, Mike, Emma, Nate, Luke (former SCBP LIT), and Ryan (former SCBP LIT). What can I say? Another great year of new additions to SCBP. 1st year lifeguards Ashton and Ryan were also part of the 1st place "Islands" Paddle Relay team. Hopefully they will all be back for 2022. The vote for "Rookie-of-the-Year" was difficult this year as always with so many outstanding candidates but a decision had to be made and that award went to Steph!
One of the skeleton crew days in September the surf was BIG. I asked Scotty, Pat, and CJ if they thought they could get the boards through it. They all agreed "definitely!" Turns out getting back in was more problematic than getting out. Scotty does a crazy cool barrel roll!
Getting the boards out in big surf
Beach Patrol Events
16th
Annual Surf City Epic Tournament –
Monday July 12, 2021
2nd Place Iron Man Medley - Bella P., Shane, Charlie, Pepper, Paige
Lavallette Open – Tuesday July 12, 20
2nd Place Paddle Relay - CJ, Pepepr, Charlie, Kieran
1st Place Paddle Relay - Pat H., Charlie, Jessie, Bella P., Kieran, CJ
Ortley Bush
Classic Lifeguard Tournament – Wednesday July 27, 2022
2nd Place Swim Relay - Matt S., Shane, George, Kieran
2nd
3rd Place Doubles Row - Charlie, Mark
3rd Place Doubles Row -
Charlie, Mark
1st Place Mile Row - Charlie/Mark
2nd Place Women's Paddle- Pepper
1st Place Iron Man - Shane
2nd Place Iron Woman - Pepper
2nd Place Line-Pull - George, Jack D., Zach
2nd Place Doubles Row - Charlie/Mark
3rd Place Women's Swim - Natalie
3rd Place Paddle Reescue - Scotty/Kieran
1st Place Doubles Row - Charlie/Mark
2nd Place Boat Relay - Charlie/Mark, Pat/Pepper, Shane/Scotty
2nd Place Mile Row - Paige, Gabby
2nd Place 1500' Paddle - Bella T.
1st Place Singles Row - Pepper
1st Place Paddle Relay - Emma D., Pepper, Haley, Bella T.
1st Place Buoy Rescue - Pepper, Bella T.
1st Place Doubles Row - Julia, Pepper
2nd Place Paddleboard Rescue - Bella T., Emma D.
1st Place - Iron Woman - Pepper
Pre-Season Training
16th
Annual Surf City Epic Tournament –
Wednesday July 6, 2021
After being postponed due to
cold water, high winds, and rain the following day was looking much better as
far as wind and rain but the water temperature was still really cold in the
morning.
I had a feeling it would warm up by late afternoon as
it often does in July and luckily that was the case so the Epic tournament was
on.
Emma D. started things off in the paddle relay and had to go up against a field of guys in the first leg.
Pepper was up next and made up a lot of ground on the field.
First year lifeguard and former
SCBP LIT Ryan T. put in an “Epic” performance, especially considering it was his
first lifeguard tournament and helped the team to a third place team finish.
Since Pepper sprained her ankle
and couldn’t compete in the Epic Run swim Gabby K. and Pat H. stepped up to
compete in the Epic Run-Swim.
It was a great effort with Pat coming in 6th
place in the field of 16 competitors and the Surf City duo finishing in 5th
place.
Next up was the Surf Dash with Brooke starting things for Surf City. Brooke competed in an all male field for the first leg and swam a great race tagging Matt S. in third place. Matt had a neck-and-neck battle the entire way around the “Epic-ally” long Surf Dash with BL defending women’s open swim champ.
Pepper was up next and had her own batter with another strong female BL swimmer and was able to get out of the water close to first place.
George was final leg swimmer and
had an incredibly tough swim against the HC and BL swimmers ultimately earning
Surf City a 3rd
place finish in the Surf Dash.
If there was one event I knew we
were going to be really strong it was the newly tweaked Mixed Double 150’ boat
push Doubles Row.
Charlie and Pepper were extremely impressive
in this one easily winning the boat push portion of the event and then cruising
to an easy 1st
place team finish for Surf City!
In the final event Bella P. ran the 800 in a very fast group of 7 female runners. She was first to the turnaround flag but the top runners were so focused on the race they ran right past the flag and had to come back to turn it. Bella still got Shane in the water just a few seconds behind the top teams.
Shane was in 3rd place coming around the third apex buoy before getting into a nice wave and making things very close going into the paddle leg of the race.
Scotty had a great paddle going
neck-and-neck with the HC paddler but just missed a wave on the wave back to the
beach.
The HC boat was launched first with Pepper and Paige
right behind.
They rowed a very solid race and finished the
race in 2nd
place.
When all the points were tallied
Harvey Cedars came in 1st,
Surf City in 2nd,
Barnegat Light in 3rd, Long Beach Township 4th,
Ship Bottom 5th,
Island Beach State Park in 6th,
and Beach Haven in 7th.
All of the competitors and team did a nice
job.
It was a friendly, yet competitive environment and a
great way to start the 2022 lifeguard competition season.
I’m especially proud of the Surf City
competitors earning one 1st
place finish, one 2nd
place finish, two 3rd
place finishes, and a 5th
place finish.
I also want to thank Tony N. for his
informative and entertaining job as MC and Krista and Ashley for their brilliant
job judging, scoring, and running the tournament as well as our entire SC team
who worked hard to host this successful tournament.
Lavallette Open – Tuesday July 12, 20
The team of Pepper, Matt, Shane, Kieran, Charlie, and
Scotty traveled to Lavallette to compete in their 6 person tournament.
I don’t know what happened and only have a few picture Shane sent me.
Seaside Park Lifeguard Tournament – Monday July 19, 2022
As always the Seaside Park tournament starts off with Beach
Flags. After coming off back-to-back
wins in the flags in 2018 and 2019 Pat would have to settle for a 3rd
place finish this year. Jessie also
won the flags last year and came in 4th this year.
Wow, that is a FAST field of women!
I wasn't there, did they call him on being half up before the start?
Mike ran in the IM Medley event with Mike running, Shane
swimming, Jack paddling, and CJ and Pepper rowing.
I believe we came in 4th or 5th in this one.
Every now and then you have a fast swimmer who can also always seem to get on a
wave. Nice.
Charlie and Pat rowed the Doubles but unfortunately did not
score any points.
With Brooke and Pepper in our mandatory coed swim relay
along with Shane and George we were expecting a good finish and the team did not
disappoint with a 1st place finish for Surf City!
Shane on a wave... again.
1st place swim relay!
Pat and Jack K. competed in the Paddle Pick-Up but did not
score points.
Charlie/Pat, CJ/Jack K., and Pepper/Shane competed in the
Boat Relay and from what I heard it did not go well as far as execution and we
came in 9th place in this one.
It's gonna be tough to pull out of that without dragging off the stern.
Sometimes you get the wave. Sometimes it gets you.
The Paddle Relay team consisted of CJ, Pepper, Charlie, and
Kieran and they finished in a respectable 2nd place.
Pepper demonstrating proper paddle form.
Our Run Relay team was fast and practiced.
It was a blow out. The team
of Pat, Charlie, Jessie, Bella Kieran, and CJ won this one by almost an entire
leg of the race!
Everybody puts their fastest person first. Ours was THE fastest.
Bella and CJ open it up.
Practice (and speed) makes perfect.
1st Place run relay.
When the points were tallied Seaside Park and OBII came in
1st and 2nd respectively with 39 points each.
SSP won more events so they came in 1st.
Surf City finished in 3rd place with 36 points.
I wish I was there because it must have been an exciting one seeing how
close the scores were.
Ship Bottom
Invitational – Monday July 25, 2022
b
I often talk about “the curse” as Ship Bottom.
Meaning whatever can go wrong does.
I think the curse moved to Island Beach this year but more on that later.
Matt S., Kieran, George, and Shane competed in the Swim
Relay and finished mid pack.
Charlie and I rowed the Doubles and came in 3rd.
Hope we don't get launched to the moon. Moon, here we come!
Jack and Ashton came in 5th in the Paddle
Pick-Up.
The Boat Relay consisting of Mark/Charlie, CJ/Pepper, and
Shane/Pat came in 5th.
Nothing went particularly wrong but nothing went really well either.
Notice Pepper on the back preventing disaster.
Pat, Charlie, Ashton, and Ryan T. came in 5th in the 4 x 500’
Paddle Relay.
Besides the Doubles Row the only other 3rd place
for Surf City was the Iron Man Medley with Mike K. running, Shane swimming,
Scotty paddling, and me and CJ rowing.
Ortley Bush Classic Lifeguard Tournament – Wednesday July 27, 2022
For some reason I don’t remember much about this one other
than the fact that we received an EZ-Pass violation in the mail!
Looking back at the results it seems like we did pretty well.
The Boat Relay team of Charlie/Mark, CJ/Scott, and Shane/Pat came in 3rd
place.
The Paddle Relay team of Ashton, Jack K., Tyler R., and
Ryan T. also came in 3rd place.
The Swim Relay team of Matt, Shane, George, and Kieran had
a really good night and came in 2nd place.
I don’t have a recorded place for the Iron Man Medley but I
do know that Shane swam, Scotty paddled, and Pepper and Pat rowed.
Finally, Charlie and I came in 2nd place in the
1000’ Doubles Row. Overall the team
came in 3rd place.
Once again the Rearson's graciously hosted a fabulous breakfast after the squad photo! Big thanks to the Reardon family.
Friday August 5,
2022 – 62nd Annual Long Beach Island Championship
Here we go again for the 62nd edition of the
Long Beach Island Lifeguard Tournament.
As has been the case all summer the wind was coming strong from the
South, lots of chop, small waist high surf.
Cold water in the low ‘60’s, which is barely swimmable without a wetsuit.
Unfortunately the competing teams had voted on 18 days as the minimum
number of days to be worked to compete so there were quite a few “ringers” in
the tournament this year. By ringers
I mean rower, paddlers, and swimmers who looked like guards but don’t actually
guard the beach more than they do other things… they work less than 4 days a
week, sometimes much less… Anyway on
to the tournament…
Charlie and I are up first in the Mile Row and we had a very controlled row. Harvey Cedars was just South of us with Ship Bottom South of them. We were able to pass HC before the buoy line and passed SB shortly after that. After turning the first mile mark it was we could tell we were pulling away from the field so at that point we settled in to try and make sure we had enought distance on the next boat should something go wrong in a wave on the way to the beach. It was a good night for us as Charlie crossed the finish line as the 2nd boat turned the buoy line.
2nd place boat in the background.
Meanwhile Pepper was in a fierce battle in the Women’s open
paddle. I didn’t see the race of
course as I was rowing but I did see a video of the finish and Pepper came in 2nd
by literally a step!
George and Kieran were up next in the Buoy Rescue and
finished 4th in a very fast field of “mostly” lifeguards.
One of the highlights of the tournament for me was the
Paddle Relay, which was back to a 4x500’ event this year.
Pat was first and worked hard to get the board to Ashton in 1st
place. Ashton paddled like mad and
opened up the lead a bit more.
Scotty was next and did what he always does, that being opening up the lead some
more. Finally Ryan T. sealed the
deal with the first 1st place Paddle Relay victory for Surf City
since 2008. That was fun to watch as
these guys have been working hard along with the guys who didn’t make the relay
but were really close and were instrumental in the team paddler “push” this
season.
Paige and Gabby were up next for their 2nd go at
the Women’s Doubles Row. Just their
second season in the boat they represented the team well with a solid row but
had to settle for a 5th place finish.
Matt swam out for the Surfboat Rescue and got to the buoy
in 5th place. This was
strange because last year he was tied for 1st to the buoy during the
swim portion of the event. Later we
discovered the South buoys were out much farther than the North ones and we were
in the South most lane for this event.
While they did straighten out the marks for the second night this didn’t
of course help Matt and Pat and they came in 5th.
Newcomer to Surf City Shane Stauffer stepped up and took on
the always super competitive Iron Man.
Shane ran about the same speed as the rest of the competitors but then
put a good distance on the field during the swim portion of the run.
He paced himself well and with good form completed the paddle and rowing
portion of the event to come away with a dominant 1st place in the
Iron Man event for the first time for Surf City since Marty Ferraro won it in
1985.
At the end of the first night of the tournament we were tied with HC for 1st place.
Saturday August 8,
2022 – 62nd Annual Long Beach Island Championship
The Iron Woman event started the second night of the
tournament with Pepper taking on this event for the 5th straight
year. It has been an amazing run for
her. 2nd place in 2017, 1st
in 2018, 2nd in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
For some reason the HC guards sets the run distance about
twice as far as it has been set for the Iron Man competitors the previous night?
Of course since the HC Iron Woman is an elite runner, with this
ridiculously long run (was supposed to be 1000ft) she put about 15 seconds on
the field during the run. Pepper
closed this distance down a bit in the swim, and a bit more in the paddle, and
was gaining fast in the boat. But
there just wasn’t enough time to make up for that run and she had to settle for
a very close 2nd place.
It’s just my opinion but I think with the proper run distance that race might
have gone the other way. Too bad
we’ll never know.
George had a very good swim in the Line-Pull drifting just
a bit North and having to fight the current at the end of the swim, which is
unfortunately the most difficult part of the swim.
Regardless he got to the buoy in 2nd place and Jack D. and
Zach pulled with strength and coordination.
It was a really great pull and they were closing on 1st place
but didn’t have the “line” to seal the deal and came in 2nd place.
Charlie and I were up again in the 1000’ Doubles and the
LBT boat that beat us the previous year by catching a wave on the outside lane
was right next to us. Perfect, let's run
that one back and see what happens without waves on the way in?
There was no surf so it would be a race of rowing and making a clean
turn.
They were near us to the buoy but by the time we came off the turn we
shook them loose for a 1st place finish in the Doubles for Surf City.
Shane and Brooke took on the Open and Women’s swim duties,
respectively. Shane was in a
ridiculously fast field of again mostly lifeguard swimmers and fought hard for a
3rd place finish. Too bad
it was a straight swim with no surf.
Unfortunately for Brooke the last thing she heard before the start of the race
was one of the BL race officials coming over and yelling “Finish at the green!”
I heard it too. What he meant
was finish at the green beach flags but only swim to the white buoy!
Brooke swam an extra buoy length and of course that extra distance took
her out of the race... Too bad
because that was going to be a good race between her and the BL swimmer…
Oh well, we’ll run it back next year…
Newcomers to the Paddle Rescue Jack K. and Ashton are
looking to be a strong team in future years and finished in 3rd
place.
After losing veteran rowers Connor and CJ to injury Iron
Man Scotty Meggitt stepped into the Single Row with about 1 day of notice and
came in 3rd place. Thanks
for always being a great team player Scotty!
Zach also stepped up with about 1 day of notice and rowed
the Mixed Doubles with Paige for a 5th place finish.
Thanks to Zach for going for it!
The Boat Relay was exciting.
Charlie and I brought the boat back to the beach and handed it to Shane
and Scotty in 1st place.
They rowed very well but HC rowed into the only runner I think I say that night
and pulled into first. Pepper and
Pat hunted them down during the third leg of the race but couldn’t overtake then
so we had to settle for a 2nd place finish.
Not back since we were down two of our experienced rowers.
Great job Shane and Pat!
Jack K. again was out guy in the 1500’ Paddle
Our Women’s Paddle Relay team consisted of Steph, Haley,
Emma D. and Kelsey. They are a young
team and while things didn’t go well for them on this night their performance at
the LBT Women’s tournament (1st place) is a good indicator of their
potential.
Brooke, Matt S., and Kieran wrapped up the tournament with a 3rd place in the Surf Dash event and the Surf City team finished in 3rd place as well. Last year we came in 5th place.
Congratulations to the very young Surf City team on the 3rd place finish!
After a number of postponements due to the cold water,
rain, and big surf the LBT women’s tournament finally took place on a nice
Tuesday morning in August.
Unfortunately the water was still really cold.
This was our 5th year attending this tournament and the Surf
City women’s team have won it every year.
We’re in a bit of a rebuilding year with our women’s team so let’s see
how they did…
Pepper, Paige, and Steph would stepping up to fill the
big shoes of Emily, Lauren, and Julia who had a lot of success with the line.
Actually they never lost a line-pull!
Anyway Pepper and our first year pullers didn’t disappoint and came away
with a relatively easy 1st place in the tourney opener.
Paige and Gabby were up next in the Mile Row and did a
great job finishing up in 2nd place.
Natalie came in 4th in the open swim, which
took place in the bay and was more like a ½ mile swim!
Pepper was right back at it in the Singles row and
delivered another 1st place finish for Surf City.
But no time to rest for Pepper as she joined the paddle
relay team with Haley, Steph, and Emma and they also finished in 1st
place.
Pepper was up again with Bella T and they won the Buoy
Rescue, which also took place in the bay.
Paige and Gabby were up next in the 1000’ Doubles boat
and came in 4th place.
Pepper closed out the show by winning the Iron Woman.
Besides Pepper and Bella T. we brought a very young
team to this one. But the women
performed really well and came in 2nd place overall behind Barnegat
Light by only 2 points, 59 to 57.
Congrats to all of the LBI women getting out there in that freezing water and
showing their lifesaving skills.
“Sometimes you get the wave and sometimes the wave gets
you.”
I’ve written that sentence many times in these yearbook
pages over the last 20 years.
Sometimes it’s an actual wave that “gets” you and sometimes is a metaphorical
one. On this night the metaphorical
variety got us!
Charlie and I had a decent start with a 3rd
place (out of 8 teams) in the 1000’ Doubles Row even though we had trouble
getting the boat back to our lane. I
don’t like to make excuses but the lanes were very narrow and the flags in the
water didn’t seem to be lined up with the flats on the beach.
The Swim Relay team consisting of George, Matt, Shane, and
Pepper came in 6th place.
Our Paddle Relay team of Jack, Pat, Ashton, and Ryan came
in 7th place. Strange
result considering this team was 75% the same as the team that won Islands a few
days earlier? Just not our night I
guess.
The Boat Relay was a learning experience for many of the
rowers since we were down Scotty, CJ, and Connor.
Charlie and I had a good first leg.
Pepper and Matt had a minor oar collision with another boat and we broke
an oar. Pat and Kieran were leg 3
and Shane and Jack leg 4. Overall it
was a last place effort. We need to
tighten that one up quite a bit.
George swam out the line in the final event, the Rescue
Relay. Unfortunately Brigantine in
the next lane crossed our lane and George was worried they might start pulling
while he was still swimming and he took off the belt, which resulted in Pat and
Kieran pulling in an empty belt!
George and Shane swam in and in Surf City fashion we finished the race with
Ashton and Jack completing the Paddle Rescue portion of the event and me,
Charlie and Matt finishing it up with the Boat Rescue.
Needless to say we came in last place in this one as well.
Overall we finished 7th out of 8 teams.
