Avalon wins after tying with Sea Isle City, Ventnor beach patrols
VENTNOR — It was close, but the women of the Avalon Beach Patrol wrapped up the season with another win.
Sisters Regan and Molly McDonnell won the opening doubles row, securing the tie-breaker in the Ventnor City Beach Patrol’s 29th annual Bill Howarth Women’s Lifeguard Invitational on Aug. 7 at Suffolk Avenue beach.
The patrol has dominated competitions all season. The women won the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational on July 9 and followed that up with a win July 17 in the Ocean City Women’s Lifeguard Invitational.
“It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been training really hard and everyone has really bought in this year,” Regan McDonnell said. “The beach patrol is a ton of support and it’s great. You get to train together, work together and it’s so much easier when you can have fun with it.”
Success was not limited to the women, as Avalon also won the Cape May County Lifeguard Championships on July 8 and the Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Championships on July 26.
Three teams tied for 11 points in Ventnor, where the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol placed in all four events for second place (third in doubles row) and Ventnor won the singles row and picked up points in the doubles row (fourth) and surf dash for third.
Amid rough surf, a thick fog and occasional rain, the McDonnell sisters won the opening event in 14:41, followed by the Upper Township Beach Patrol duo of Lorna Connell and Kailey Grimley (15:06), Sea Isle sisters Maura and Molly Quinn (15:07), Ventnor’s Sam Keough and Kira Murray (15:09) and the Longport Beach Patrol’s Madelyn Fox and Emma Barnhart (16:07).
It was the first win for the sisters in the doubles row.
“It’s incredible. We never got to row together in high school or anything like that, so it’s really nice to have a community where we can row together,” Molly McDonnell said.
They described the conditions as “crazy.”
“The fog kind of cleared out. I got to see the flags a couple of hundred meters out, which was better than I thought, so that worked,” Regan McDonnell said.
Upper Township’s Connell said she and Grimley got waterlogged in the beginning but were able to set a steady course.
“We got out to our flag on our point, I was pretty on it, but Avalon caught a way at the end and there is no way out-rowing that,” Connell said, noting she kept her eye on the city’s water tower as a guide.
The duo won the doubles row this summer during the Longport Women’s Lifeguard Invitational.
The ocean water temperature remains below average along the shore this summer, and many of the competitors in the swim chose to wear wetsuits. The course was shortened so the women would spend less time in the water.
“Some of the competitors are concerned with the water temperature,” VCBP Capt. David Funk said, noting it was about 59 degrees. “We’re going to modify the swim distance a little bit and take some other safety measures.”
Becca Cubbler of Avalon secured her first win of the season, wearing only a bathing suit and swim cap, with a time of 8:28.
“It was really cold, really cold,” Cubbler said, noting it was her first win in Ventnor event .
“I just went out and decided to go for it and see what I had,” Cubbler said. “I knew I was first at the turn. I could see them when I was breathing, looking backward, but I caught two good waves.”
Defending her win from 2023, Longport’s Megan Fox took second in 8:40 while wearing a full suit.
“This year I took the risk of wearing a wetsuit because the water is under 60 degrees and I think I did lose some mobility,” Fox said, noting it limited her stroke a bit.
“I was willing to take the risk, honestly; it’s way too cold out there,” she said.
The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s Summer DeWitt was third in 9:11. Sea Isle’s Mary Kate Leonard was fourth in 9:22 and Atlantic City Beach Patrol’s Lilliana Keim fifth in 10:52.
DeWitt chose to wear a sleeveless wetsuit so as not to impede her stroke.
“I knew going into it I was going to be freezing but I told myself I really wanted to get points for our team no matter what, so I pushed through,” DeWitt said.
With the ABP leading with 10 points, Ventnor picked up an important 5 in the singles row to add to its two from the doubles when Keough won her first lifeguard race ever.
Multiple competitors were struggling through the pounding surf toward the finish line, but Keough pulled ahead for the win in 5:29.
“That’s something I’ve been working for for a whole year,” Keough said. “I am just so grateful to be able to compete against such amazing competitors in tough conditions. I tried to go out as best I could and hump the swells coming in.”
The race was even closer for the rest of the boats, with Sea Isle’s Maura Quinn taking second in 5:46, followed by Cape May Beach Patrol’s Jenny Rafter in 5:52, Longport’s Fox in 5:54 and Upper Township’s Connell in 6:35.
The standings had become much tighter heading into the final event, the surf dash. Avalon was leading with 10, Sea Isle was second with 9 and Ventnor and Longport had 7 apiece. With 5 points going to the victor, the title was there for the taking.
Amid a low tide, the competition was a straight dash with some high-stepping but no swimming.
Failing to finish in the swim and singles row, the Margate City Beach Patrol got out to an early lead and would not be caught. Juliana Duff, Isabella Iordanov, Kamryn Smallwood and Callie Duff took first place and 5 points.
Ventnor’s Kira Murray, Madison Siglin, Kendall Murphy and Keough finished second to secure 4 points for a total of 11. The OCBP’s Morgan DeCosta, Chloe Care, Claudia Booth and Lexi Santer finished third to double its point total to 6.
Sea Isle finished fourth, adding 2 points, and Avalon fifth for 1 point, completing the scoring for the three-way tie.
Longport finished fourth overall with 7 points and Ocean City was fifth with 6.
The event honors the late Howarth, a former captain on the VCBP who died in 2016 at age 61. Howarth was a member of the VCBP for 48 years, serving as captain from 1987 until his death.
It was the sixth year with all female officials.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
