Tough competition for limited spots; OCBP seeks candidates with physical and character attributes
OCEAN CITY — The competition for a spot on the Ocean City Beach Patrol was much tougher Saturday than in recent years. With 47 candidates trying out, the OCBP planned to select less than a fifth overall.
“We’re only going to take eight, which is a big deal from the last four or five years where we were taking 40,” OCBP Chief of Operations Erich Becker said on the foggy and drizzly morning as Deputy Chief Tony Mehalic put the candidates through a series of tests at the 18th Street beach.
Becker said there would be maybe three backups selected as well.
Because of people retiring from the patrol and turnover from year to year, in recent years the beach patrol needed a lot more rookies to fill the ranks. Not so this year.
“I think it’s a compliment to the staff and to the city, the changes that we’ve made to make it run a little bit better,” Becker said. He also acknowledged the pay has become an incentive.
Starting rookies earn $19.50 per hour and if they return the following year, that rises to $20.50 per hour.
More than 130 candidates signed up for the rookie test, but only 47 showed up.
Mehalic, with support from fellow deputy chiefs Holly Lesser and Dan Casey and a host of OCBP officers and guards, led the four physical tests.
It started with a half-mile run on the beach. Candidates had to finish the run is less than three minutes and 45 seconds to qualify for the other tests.
Next up was the 500-meter box swim. Candidates were split into three groups and had to bring the brightly colored rescue cans with them into the rough surf, swim out beyond the breakers to a big floating orange ball, swim south to another orange ball, then turn again and head to shore, racing on foot to flags on the beach.
That was followed by a rescue board paddle following the same course and then a surf dash in which the candidates had to race twice in to touch a pole in waist-deep water before running and swimming back to the starting point on the beach.
The candidates were timed in the events.
Mehalic said “resiliency” was a key characteristic in what the OCBP was seeking in its candidates.
For the physical aspect, the OCBP wants guards able to finish the run and swim, be solid on the rescue board and “just be good physically all around. That’s what these tests do,” Mehalic said.
He pointed out the tests are meant to simulate situations the guards would find themselves in during rescues — requiring them to run, swim and use their equipment.
Because of the conditions, Mehalic said they put the floating balls farther out than usual to keep the candidates from having to battle the line of breakers as they swam parallel to the beach.
“I think resiliency is a pretty big word,” he said. “Just being able to handle any situation that might arise because you never know what you’re going to get. You never know what each day is going to bring you.”
The rookie test wasn’t easy. Some candidates dropped out during the swim. Mehalic said OCBP officials expect that. Others fought, many not successfully, to stay on their rescue boards as they came through the break on their way to shore, but most managed it.
Lt. Grace Curry, an Egg Harbor Township High School graduate who swam for the Eagles, remembered what it was like when she tried out for the beach patrol eight years ago.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking, but I just took it one event at a time,” she said. In 2018, the testing was spread over two days and included rowing a lifeguard boat in the bay “so it was a little different event-wise.”
“It was one of the hardest things physically I’ve done, but it’s really an exciting time,” Curry said. “It’s cool to see a younger generation get out and try out. It’s awesome.”
Among the candidates Saturday morning were Ocean City High School senior Rachel Stauffer, a standout on the Red Raider swim team who is headed to the University of Delaware, and Mainland Regional High School junior Natalie Higbee, who is on the Mustang swim team. (There were a good number of candidates from Ocean City, Mainland Regional and Egg Harbor Township high school swim teams trying out for the patrol. Not surprisingly, the coaches for all of those teams are current or former lifeguards for the OCBP and other local beach patrols.)
“It’s always been a dream of mine,” Stauffer said of what motivated her to try out. “My dad did it when he was a kid and all my friends do it that I swim with, so it seems like a fun job and I love the beach.”
Stauffer said she was a little cold on the overcast, gray morning, “but other than that, it’s good.”
She noted she got advice on the swim from retired OCBP lifeguard Paul Sweeney. It didn’t hurt. She finished in the top three in her group in the event.
Higbee said she was trying out because “I love the beach and it’s been in my family. My uncle and my cousins tried out. My cousin’s currently on it right now.”
What did she think about the tests partway through? “The ocean’s a little chilly, but I’m having fun,” Higbee said.
She said if she succeeded in getting on the OCBP she planned to stick with it.
Becker said he was pleased with the candidates who showed up for the test because they were all athletic types. They were expecting more because of the signups, but he and other officers said some candidates change their minds or get other jobs in the interim.
He pointed out that although the tests simulate the skills lifeguards need, they actually go a bit beyond what normal rescues are like.
“It’s really to test them on the kind of skills they’re going to need. The course to me looks about 500 meters long for the swim, and the paddle’s the same. Most of our rescues are under 150 meters, so you know they’re not going to be put to this kind of test on the job, but this will definitely separate the better athletes.”
The OCBP is seeking more than athletic ability, Becker said. There’s more to being a good lifeguard.
“We do have an interview process and we have a series of questions to try and get an idea of their character, of some idea of their upbringing. We’re going to try and really select the best candidates, not just by their athletic skills, but by their personality and their character also. It’s important. They’ve got to fit. It’s a family,” Becker said.
There are “four little families,” he explained, with guards assigned to four zones along Ocean City’s beachfront, and about 185 members of the OCBP in total.
“We want to work for the new rookies as much as we want them to work for us’ so character plays a big part in it,” he said.
After they finished the physical tests, the candidates had a lunch break and then were interviewed and all asked the same questions.
The candidates found out Saturday who was selected.
“Everybody’s going to know today,” Becker said late Saturday morning, “which is a bittersweet part of this because you have 47 people — all good people — but we can only take eight.
“So we’re going to make eight happy, and the rest are not going to be so happy, so I feel bad for them,” Becker said.
The fact the patrol is taking only eight guards means the vast majority of lifeguards have experience protecting the locals and visitors on the beach and in the ocean.
“So everybody’s got some kind of experience out there, but the training never ends. We’re training our 12-year guards as much as we are our rookies.” (The new hires complete a rookie school before being assigned to the beach, where they are paired with veteran guards.”
“I feel confident about this summer,” Becker said. “We have a good team. We have a really good team.”
Candidates Chosen
– 1st Place, Dante Buonadonna (Competitor #42)
– 2nd Place, Mihail Mosendz
– 3rd Place, Ryan McGinley
– 4th Place, Blaise Coley
– 5th Place, Conner Nicoletti
– 6th Place, Joey Berg
– 7th Place, Steven Howard
– 8th Place, Ryan Carney
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
