OCEAN CITY — The T. John Carey Masters Swim, a one-mile jaunt in the Atlantic off of Ocean City’s beaches, draws young and old alike. More than 220 swimmers completed the swim Sunday, July 12, from 9-year-old Payton Reardon of Strathmere to 84-year-old Charles Butler of Cherry Hill.
The fastest, Frankie Brady, a 30-year-old former guard on the Ocean City Beach Patrol, which sponsors the race, finished the course in 19 minutes and 46 seconds. The fastest female, Lily Kirk, 15, of Downingtown, Pa., got it done in 20:26. The rest of the field made it between them and Butler’s time of 54:24.
The turnout for the race was the biggest in years, according to OCBP Deputy Chief Holly Lesser. She attributed it to putting out more advertising on the boardwalk over the past few weeks, posts on social medial and “obviously, it’s a very beautiful day. The ocean temperature also helps.”
Lesser said a lot of families enjoy the race because it’s been a tradition for them for a very long time.
“I think it’s just really awesome that the Ocean City Beach Patrol does this and it just brings together all of the different athletes,” she added. “I think specifically for Ocean City, the community kind of gathers around for this event.”
She also pointed to the fact it is fun for all ages.
“That is something super cool and part of our tradition too,” Lesser said. “We have given an award for the youngest competitor and the older competitor and it’s cool for us to buy that award and give it out every year because it is cool to see the wide range of ages.”
The winners
Brady said he competed in the Masters Swim two years ago and barely cracked the top 10. He attributed his win this year to plotting a good course and having a good start.
“A lot of these guys come to the swim and they’re really fast in the pool and they swim at Division I colleges, but they don’t really practice enough in this water,” he said. “I swim out here every day.”
Brady said he swam more than usual over the winter because “it was brutally cold and the waves weren’t good, so I didn’t surf as much. I would just go to the pool.”
He added it felt great to win the race, remembering when he first did it around age 16 he got hypothermia. “And then I gradually got better after that. Even when I was swimming for the beach patrol, I was getting like third. I was always right there, never winning, so it feels pretty good to get first.”
Kirk said she had done other open-water swims in the bay but never a race like the Masters Swim.
“I wanted to do one in the ocean,” she said, adding the waves were big but the current was pulling the swimmers along the course from 12th to 20th street. Kirk is a swimmer for Downingtown West High School, where she is a rising sophomore.
As for her strategy? “I just wanted to go out and have fun.”
Competitors, not rivals
Sisters Julia and Casey Cullen, both OCBP lifeguards, said there isn’t any rivalry between them even though they swam for rival colleges, Alabama and Auburn.
“We’re rooting for each other,” Casey said.
“I went to Alabama and she went to Auburn, so we had that rivalry,” Julia said, “but we’re the best of friends and training partners so it’s nice to be on the same team.” Julia is four years older so the two didn’t compete directly with each other in college.
“This is the best job in the world,” she added about being on the beach patrol. “We love it here. We get to work together, compete together. It keeps us young and healthy.”
Casey, who just competed for the OCBP in the swim at the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational on July 7, came in second overall among the women. Julia has been a rower in the lifeguard competitions.
The Sentinel caught up with swim team alumni from Unionville High School in Pennsylvania while they were waiting for the shuttle at the Ocean City Community Center.
Emily Alvins said she has been doing the swim since 2023 and likes to swim and keep the tradition going.
Morgan Chapman said it was her first time and was convinced by another alum. “I said, ‘Sure, it sounds fun to me.’” She added they have been swimmers all their lives, but she had never done an ocean swim before.
Lauren Dobie was back for the second year. “I’m doing this because I want to hang out with all my teams, just have fun and get some exercise in.”
Sydney Streib, 18, from Reading and Sinking Spring, Pa., was at the race for the first time, along with fellow former Wilson High School swimmers Georgia Vecchio, 18, her older sister Olivia Vecchio, 19, and Keagan Eisenhofer, 18.
Olivia, who now swims for Gulf Coast University in Florida, won the race last year in her first time at the Masters Swim. She finished fourth this year, one second behind the women’s third-place finisher, OCBP guard Summer Dewitt, but won the 16-19 age group in 21:19. Eisenhofer was third in that men’s category behind OCBP guards Ryan Cornell, 16, who won the division, and Jack Behm, 19.
Georgia said she and Olivia did the swim last year because Keagan was competing. “We were actually just here for a beach day and then he was doing the race so we were like, ‘OK, we’ll just do it with you.’ It was great.”
Keagan said he was convinced to do it last year by a buddy who works on the beach patrol, EMT Anthony Fiore, another Wilson graduate.
Keagan, who is going to swim for the University of Delaware, said after swimming in a pool, competing in the ocean is “a lot different, especially when you can’t see the bottom or really see what’s ahead of you.”
“I love being in the ocean and swimming,” Olivia said, noting she wasn’t feeling pressure to repeat her victory. Well, maybe a bit.
“My sister really wants me to win the popcorn bucket (from Johnson’s Popcorn) again, so that’s my only pressure now,” Olivia said, smiling. “I don’t really care about winning, but she wants some popcorn and if I don’t win, I have to buy it for her.”
For full results, go online to https://my.raceresult.com/387135/results.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
