Longport wins women’s invitational; Ventnor second, Ocean City third
By DAVID NAHAN
Sentinel staff
LONGPORT – The home beach patrol dominated the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational Wednesday, July 7, but to many of the competitors, they were all winners because they were back to racing after being denied that chance in the summer of 2020 courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Longport Beach Patrol women took the 2021 title with ease, scoring 31 points, taking first place in the doubles row, first and second in the swim, second in the paddle board and third in the surf dash. The Ventnor Beach Patrol and Ocean City Beach Patrol each finished with 12 points. A tiebreaker based on a better finish in the doubles row gave second place to Ventnor; Ocean City was third. The Upper Township Beach Patrol was fourth with 9 points.
Longport’s Taylor Phy and Kira McCully kicked things off by winning the opening event, the doubles row, in 12 minutes and 45 seconds.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Phy said. “It feels very awesome” getting back to competition after a year off. “I’m definitely excited about getting back into racing after last year – a super long year with nothing to look forward too, really.
“My team is amazing. My doubles partner, Kira, my surf dash team, the paddle boarder, the two swimmers are absolutely amazing,” Phy added. “Kira and I have been looking forward to this for an entire year now so it’s an amazing feeling to come out here against all these awesome (competitors). These girls are amazing. They are super great. It’s great to get back into it.”
As for the strategy, she said, “We definitely wanted a good start in the high tide and the chop, to make it out to the flag as quick as we can and get the swell back in. … My partner kept a perfect point. We didn’t have anything to worry about. It was super awesome.”
“Our goal was to be the first to the flag and then haul ass on the way in,” McCully said. “We were first to the flag and we were like, ‘The game plan is working! Let’s keep going!’
“Not having races last summer was definitely a bummer,” McCully said. “One of the main reasons I lifeguard is to do the races. Especially being washed-up college athletes, it gives you something to train for. We were so psyched for that race.”
As for starting things off on the right foot for the team, she said, “It feels pretty awesome because we’re on our home court. We’re in Longport, we had our whole beach patrol here supporting us. It was a good start to the racing season. Hopefully we can continue, but we can’t get cocky. We have to keep training.”
Twins Kristine and Amanda Auble, rowing for the Margate City Beach Patrol, were the defending champions from the 2019 Longport Women’s races, but their shot at defending the title ran into trouble from the start when the Upper Township boat crossed their path, one of its oars just about hitting them. By the time they were able to get some separation, most of the field had a big head start.
Despite that, the Aubles were still able to finish fourth and were philosophical about what happened.
“It’s tough. You don’t want it to happen, but it’s ocean rowing,” Amanda Auble said. “Anything can happen. The key is to just react. We got fourth after really getting held up at the start so I take it as a win for us. It’s not something easily done, but we stayed calm and there was a lot of water in the boat too. But we just kept swinging together. That’s what we do.”
“It’s amazing to be back to ocean racing,” Kristine Auble said. “After having a year off it’s all we want to do. Last year we did the Around the Island race because that’s the only race they had, so we were itching to come back.
“This is great. Even with the tough start we had today, it makes it worth it just to be back, honestly,” Kristine Auble added. “Just to have fun, see some girls we haven’t seen in so long back doing what we love.”
She agreed with her sister about the unpredictable nature of ocean racing. “What are you going to do? I can’t control everything,” she laughed.
Longport jumped out to a nearly insurmountable lead by taking first and second places in the swim, which followed the doubles row.
Megan Fox won in a time of 9:47.03 and teammate Katie McClintock was second in 10:16.17.
“During this race, I was definitely cautious about not taking it out too fast,” Fox said. “Navigation was also important in this race because it was a few blocks down from where it normally is so I really had to keep my eye on my point the whole time.
She and McClintock – who just graduated from Mainland Regional High School, where she set national records in pool swimming, “train together every day so I knew it was going to be very close,” Fox said. “Ocean racing definitely isn’t my strong suit, but it feels good to be out here, especially since last year we didn’t get to race as lifeguards,” McClintock said. “It feels really good to be out here alongside my teammate,” she added.
Fox concurred and said having the other Longport lifeguards and home fans cheer them on felt good.
With scoring of 7 points for first, then 5-4-3-2-1 for the following places, Longport had 19 points after the first two events.
McCully added to that tally by taking second in the paddle board race, finishing 11 seconds behind Isabella Taylor of the Wildwood Beach Patrol, whose winning time was 3:45. Upper Township’s Lyndsay Robbins was third.
Ventnor’s Meghan Holland won the singles row. She had a big lead coming into the finish, but got turned on a wave and had to fight to straighten out her boat, but she was able to win in 6:30, three seconds ahead of Ocean City’s Laura Mastrangelo. Amanda Auble of Margate was third in 6:47.
Holland’s 7 points added to the 5 earned by teammates Kate Fisher and Stacey Price, who were second in the doubles row.
Ocean City was able to tie Ventnor in points in the final event of the evening, the surf dash.
The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s Morgan Decosta, Emily DiMarino, Ryann Styer and Kat Soanes bested the next finishers by just shy of 5 seconds, finishing in 2:17.77. Sea Isle’s Kylie Fry, Olivia Budney, Maura O’Hare and Kaitlyn Hnatkowsky were second in 2:23.67 and Longport’s Phy, McCully, Julia Goodman and Megan McCully were third in 4:06.
The OCBP racers took an early lead and held it.
“It felt kind of crazy because I’ve never raced for lifeguarding yet, and having that adrenaline rush, coming out of the water first, really helped me and helped my teammates pull out with a win,” Decosta said. (The newly-graduated Ocean City High School senior swam and played field hockey and lacrosse as a student.)
“It feels amazing to have a win to start the season,” Decosta said.
Winning felt “absolutely amazing,” according to DiMarino. “I have the best team ever. I’m just so excited to see what the rest of the summer brings.”
She went into the water as the second leg of the four-person relay, racing from the beach into the surf and back. “It was a little nerve-wracking at first but I have faith in my team and in myself and we ended up getting the win so I can’t ask for a better night.”
Kat Soanes, a returning veteran on the surf dash, said she was “so happy to be back after a year of COVID. It’s just wonderful to be back with the atmosphere and the energy and I’m so happy to be a part of this team. Tonight the current was really strong, pulling north, and the waves were pretty big. I love that big surf. I have the best team I could ever ask for, all my best friends.”
“It feels so great especially after COVID and everything that happened last year,” Styer said. “It’s just so nice seeing everyone and the camaraderie as well as the competition and the competitiveness in everyone. I think everyone missed that. I’m really happy how well we did and how everyone else did too.”
Racing skills are
lifeguarding skills
Longport Beach Patrol Chief Matt Kelm was happy about his women’s team’s win, but also noted what lifeguards do in competition showcases the skills that keep bathers safe in southern New Jersey beach towns.
“It was a decisive victory this evening. I’m really, really happy for them,” Kelm said. “They were going up against some stiff competition in some very difficult conditions to compete in. I’m really proud of their efforts and all of the competitors out there. They all had tough conditions to deal with. They comported themselves in a manner which they should be pleased with.”
His female guards did a lot of doubling and even tripling up in events.
“They’re excellent athletes. They’re college athletes. They’re great high school athletes. They’re not the only ones doubling up on competitions. …. I mean we’re not the only ones doing that. There are other cities doing that as well. It just goes to show the caliber of lifeguard you have in south Jersey and their athletic ability.”
Pointing out a tropical storm was headed toward the area soon after the competition, Kelm said, “They’re going to need those skills this weekend up and down the Jersey coast with Elsa coming up the coast. Absolutely. What you saw this evening was a brief display of what they’re capable of when the conditions are bad and somebody is in trouble.”
Longport Women’s
Lifeguard Invitational
Doubles row: 1. Longport (Kira McCully and Taylor Phy) 12:45; 2. Ventnor (Kate Fisher and Stacey Price) 12:57; 3. Atlantic City (Raina Roche and Julianna Granese) 13:00.
Swim: 1. Megan Fox, Longport 9:47.03; 2. Katie McClintock, Longport 10:16.17; 3. Rebecca Cubbler, Avalon 10:48.86.
Paddleboard race: 1. Isabella Taylor, Wildwood 3:45; 2. Kira McCully, Longport 3:56; 3. Lyndsay Robbins, Upper Township 4:06.
Singles row: 1. Meghan Holland, Ventnor 6:30; 2. Laura Mastrangelo, Ocean City 6:33; 3. Amanda Auble, Margate 6:47.
Surf Dash: 1. Ocean City (Morgan DeCosta, Emily DiMarino, Ryann Styer, Kat Soanes) 2:17.77; 2. Sea Isle City (Kylie Fry, Olivia Budney, Maura O’Hare, Kaitlyn Hnatkowsky) 2:23.67; 3. Longport (Taylor Phy, Kira McCully, Julia Goodman, Megan McCully) 4:06.
Team: 1. Longport 31; 2. Ventnor 12; 3. Ocean City 12; 4. Upper Township 9.
