Ventnor’s victory lets it keep final event again next season
VENTNOR — Faced with heavy surf and a strong southern current beneath a brooding sky, Sam Keough defeated her nine competitors in the singles row Aug. 6 to secure the team victory for the Ventnor City Beach Patrol.
Known for 30 years as the Bill Howarth Women’s Lifeguard Invitational, the first in the South Jersey Lifeguard Chiefs Association to feature only women, the event was renamed the Bill Howarth South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championship this year.
Like the South Jersey Championships, which was held Aug. 11 in Avalon, the event now will be held at the home of the reigning champ, giving the VCBP the opportunity to host its signature event once again next year on its home surf.
“We work really hard in Ventnor and the fact it stays in Ventnor for the first ever Women’s South Jerseys is just so incredible,” Keough said.
“It feels great; we’ve all put in a lot of hard work for this, so it’s great to bring home the first ever Women’s South Jersey title. That’s for sure a big step for us,” said Charlotte Thomas, who teamed with Keough in the doubles row.
The races pit the best competitors from area beach patrols against one another in a doubles row, swim and singles row. This year, women from 13 of the 15 patrols took part in at least some of the events.
Senior Lt. Meghan Holland said winning the first one “means everything to us.”
“It’s really nice to see that over the 30 years since we started this race how much the level of competition of the women in South Jersey has risen,” Holland said. “I have had the pleasure of rowing with and against some of these girls. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching a lot of them. I couldn’t be more proud of everybody who went out there tonight and so proud of our girls.”
Scoring is 5 points for first place, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth and 1 for fifth.
The VCBP finished with 9 points in the close contest. Sea Isle City, Avalon and Longport tied with 7 points, but the SICBP took second on the strength of its first-place finish in the doubles row; Avalon was third and Longport fourth. Atlantic City finished fifth with 6 points. Upper Township finished sixth with its third place in the singles row and fourth place in the doubles row, while Ocean City was sixth.
The conditions made it difficult for the doubles crews to get out past the breakers, favoring strength over skill to hold a line to the flag. The current brought the crews to shore blocks away from their starting point.
Molly and Maura Quinn won the race for the SICBP.
“As soon as we got out there and started moving, it was like break away, get as far as possible, row your race and don’t follow anyone else,” Maura Quinn said.
“I just kept my head right at the houses, tried not to turn around and tried not to take on a lot of water,” Molly Quinn added.
They said it was terrific to win the first event at the first women’s championship.
“It feels amazing. This is what we work for every morning,” Maura Quinn said.
The twins were followed by Julianna Granese and Michelle Burwell of the ACBP.
Keough teamed up with Thomas to take third in the doubles row. They called the conditions “insane.”
“Just battling winds coming straight across, the waves that are breaking straight across, so definitely very tough,” Thomas said.
“We were just trying to stay as calm as possible during those conditions for sure,” Keough added. “We were on our lane to the flag, but just riding the swells in and just working with the way everything was breaking.”
Upper Township’s Lorna Connell and Kailey Grimley were fourth and sisters Regan and Molly McDonnell were fifth for Avalon.
The swim wasn’t much easier on the athletes, who had to deal with waves pummeling their bodies out to the flag and back.
Becca Cubbler of Avalon won the race easily.
“It’s been rough all week, so I’ve been practicing in conditions like this in Avalon. The current was pretty strong; we all had to run north and then I just tried to stay straight to get on the flag and on the way in I swam against the current a little bit and then once I got on a wave just let it take me wherever,” Cubbler said.
She was thrilled to take the win in the first swim championship.
“We were so excited when they changed the name and made it a South Jersey — it’s a big step for women and I’m glad to get the win for my team,” she said.
Cubbler was followed by Rhylee Cornell of Ocean City, who left the water behind Longport’s Jordyn Ricciotti but beat her in a foot race to the finish line.
“I think I swallowed about half the ocean out there,” Cornell said. “It was a fun race. The conditions are pretty rough but my mentality is that nothing can be as bad as counties, honestly.”
The Cape May County Lifeguard Championships was held July 7 in a dense fog that delayed the start and then ended up postponing it after three events.
“We’re all definitely tired from this whole season but everyone wanted to give it all they’ve got in the final race,” Cornell said.
She had lost a race to the rope for third place during the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational on July 8 when the host patrol’s Alivia Wainwright dove and grabbed the spot.
Ricciotti said she was pleased to be part of the event.
“I’m really happy for Becca; we’ve been racing for years and I am just really happy to see her win, especially the first women’s Jerseys,” she said.
Sea Isle City’s Mary Kate Leonard was fourth and Ventnor picked up another point when Ryann Lowry took fifth.
After two events, Sea Isle was leading with 7 points, Avalon was second with 6 and Ventnor and Ocean City were tied with 4.
With a lighter boat but only one rower, the singles race was a challenge. Many of the competitors also competed in the doubles race, meaning they already had a workout and now had to face the sea again, alone.
Several boats quickly got off course, some nearly colliding, but the women finally got their craft under control and headed out to the near flag.
Keough got the lead on the way in and held it as spectators raced to congratulate her on the beach.
“It feels incredible, something that I have definitely worked for the whole entire summer. Just to be able to have the South Jerseys is awesome and I can’t thank the girls who came before me enough for setting this up and owe it all to them,” Keough said.
Now in her third year of rowing, Keough had won her first race during the same event last season. She said it was “insane on the way out, fighting for my life,” noting she was second behind the UTBP’s Connell at the flag.
“It was definitely awesome to compete with all these girls.”
Near the finish line, Keough got caught up on a wave and Sea Isle’s Maura Quinn flipped her boat as others came crashing ashore. Longport’s Maddie Fox was second and Connell finished third. The ACBP’s Granese was fourth and Avalon’s Regan McDonnell was fifth.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff