MARGATE — “Just having a hell of a season,” Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Steve Downey said after his crew won the 80th annual Margate World War II Memorial Lifeguard Races on Aug. 7.
The ACBP won the swim and took third in both rowing races to accumulate 11 points for the team title. The Longport Beach Patrol was second with 8 points.
“We’ve always had the athletes, and everyone’s putting it together this year,” Downey said.
“He likes to win these races; we like to win the races for him,” rower Vince Granese said.
The Margate City Beach Patrol and Cape May Beach Patrol tied with 5 points apiece, but Margate took third based on its better finish in the doubles row.
Atlantic City now has won four events this summer including the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational on July 7, the Atlantic City Lifeguard Classic on July 27 and the Bill Howarth Women’s Invitational on Aug. 5.
“We’ve got some newcomers on our women’s team but our men’s team has been pretty consistent for the last couple of years and they’ve always been in the hunt,” Downey said.
Granese, who was third in the singles row and paired with Nick Guidara for third in the doubles row, said the ACBP is rowing really well right now as the South Jersey Lifeguard Championship is coming up Aug. 14 in Avalon.
“Doubles felt great tonight. We were fast, Margate was fast, Longport was fast, and there was a lot of fast crews here tonight, but I really felt good about doubles,” Granese said. “I was impressed by Nick tonight. I’m excited for next week.”
The MCBP’s Bob Bechtel and Hayden Smallwood won the opening doubles race.
“We had a game plan going into it, which made it easy. Obviously, you want to win on your home course,” Bechtel said. “Got out fast, we settled through the chop. Wanted to make sure we nailed a turn in this little bit of a southerly we had here and then just give it all we got coming in.”
The race was moved this from Decatur Avenue north to Huntington Avenue beach.
“I think Margate did a great job with the venue this year. I think it’s a nice change,” Bechtel said, admitting it “kind of takes the home field advantage away from our crew” because they usually row off Decatur.
“It’s like any other race — you pull hard, you’ll put yourself in a good spot.”
He was happy to have the support of the city.
“Having your home crowd in front of you gives you a little bit more extra incentive,” he said.
Longport’s Mike McGrath and Sean Duffy were second.
The ACBP’s Charles Schreiner easily won the swim race, reaching the rope before anyone else was out of the water.
“I was really, really wanting to push that front end even though it was a bit choppy. I really just hammer it home on the legs, keep my head down and just nail it in knowing that it’s going to be pretty tight on the way in,” he said.
Schreiner said he focuses only on his stroke and the conditions.
“The first few years I was out here, I really spent a lot of time thinking about what the other people around me were doing, but I feel like that can be a little distracting, so really just focusing on what I do well, what I don’t do well, and really leaning into that best I can,” he said.
Schreiner said the race was a good warmup for the South Jerseys.
“It definitely gives me a little bit of confidence, just trying to use it as a steppingstone, training through to really see where I am, what we really need to fine-tune before next week, and really just trying to take it in stride,” he said.
Schreiner said the conditions were the “tamest I’ve seen it on my time on the beach.”
“I feel like Margate is usually a really, really weird swim almost every year. It’s either been really cold, really big surf, really windy,” he said.
The Brigantine City Beach Patrol’s James Haney was second and the Upper Township Beach Patrol’s Logan Manning was third.
For the second time in two weeks, the CMBP’s Mike Fitzpatrick won the singles row. His first win the previous week helped his team to victory at the Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Championships.
“During that first doubles race, you could feel the huge swell that just jacked up in that last quarter, so I was able to zero in on that and catch a swell and get in,” he said.
Fitzpatrick attributed his newfound success to achieving “the next level of concentration.”
“I really committed myself to the boat, committed myself to my partner and, you know, I love it. I just love this stuff,” he said.
He is proud to represent Cape May.
“It’s a town that I love. It’s a town that I’ve gone into my entire life. I spent every single summer I can remember here at Cape May, and that’s what I do it for.”
Longport’s McGrath was second and Granese third.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
