Beach patrols competed in eight events, rowing, swimming, paddling and running
WILDWOOD — The Avalon Beach Patrol has been on a roll this competition season, adding to their titles the Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Championships July 26 at Lincoln Avenue beach.
The past two years Avalon has come in first and looked to extend the streak. Despite a close and contested race, Avalon pulled through for the three-peat. The Brigantine Beach Patrol secured a well fought second place, while the Margate City Beach Patrol was third.
Dutch Hoffman is considered one of the big three lifeguarding races during the summer season. Fifteen patrols from Atlantic and Cape May counties competed in eight events: open doubles row, singles row and male and female swims, rescue board and one-mile beach run races.
Tourists and locals alike made the long walk from the Wildwood Boardwalk to the beach to see the event. Music blasted from speakers and the beach filled up with spectators, including longtime friends and Wildwood enthusiasts Rob Manley and Isiah Wesley. The duo came all the way from Burlington County.
“We come down every year, usually around this time and last year we found the lifeguard races, which we thought were awesome. We definitely wanted to come back,” Manley said, “If you’re not part of the beach community you wouldn’t know about stuff like this. That’s why it’s so cool for us because, it’s not like we have this where we are. It makes it a great time.”
The event featured a rendition of the national anthem and a flyover by a U.S Coast Guard helicopter as the Wildwood Beach Patrol honored alumni lifeguard Ryan Comas, who passed away recently. He was 25 years old and serving in the U.S Coast Guard off the coast of Alaska.
In the opening doubles row, Atlantic City and Margate led early on, but as the flags were rounded, Brigantine’s brother duo of Jack and Joe Savell sped past the opposition and claimed an early first place. Afterwards, Joe Savell, a sophomore at Cornell University, spoke about their strategy for the event.
“Having a quick start and a fast turn are the most important things to remember, that’s how you get the most lengths on people,” Savell said. “Other than that, it was pretty flat today and we were keeping a calm rhythm. Plus, rowing with my brother definitely makes it easier.”
Margate’s Bob Becthel and Chris Spiers placed second, followed by Avalon’s Dave Giulian and Dave Nagle for third. Longport’s Mike McGrath and Sean Duffey placed fourth while Atlantic City’s Vince Granese and Nick Guidara finished fifth.
The women’s paddleboard race followed which featured another Brigantine first place as Grace Emig finished well ahead of the pack. Ocean City’s own surfer sensation Brynn Gallagher took second and Avalon’s Alyssa Sittineri was third. Kylie Fry of Sea Isle was fourth Sophie Jurusz of Wildwood Crest claimed fifth.
Zach Vasser of Margate dominated the men’s swim. Alex Zoldan of Avalon was second and Andrew Taylor of Sea Isle was third. Charles Schreiner of Atlantic City was fourth and Brendan Lewis of Wildwood finished fifth.
The men’s beach run put the Cape May Beach Patrol on the board as the Zeb Hinker, a former distance running standout at Lower Cape May Regional High School, grabbed first place. Alex Soldan of Avalon was second, Andrew Taylor of Sea Isle third, Atlantic City’s Charles Schreiner fourth and Wildwood’s Brendan Lewis fifth.
Margate’s Sofia Day, a state champion in the 800 meters at Mainland Regional High School, won the women’s one-mile beach run.
The rising senior said she “just really tried to stay with the front of the pack because there were a lot of strong runners. I tried to use the turns to my advantage and not fall behind. When I saw the finish coming up, I just kind of pushed forward.”
Wildwood’s Maddie Priest was second, Ocean City’s Chloe Care third, Longport’s Libby DeMichelle fourth and Avalon’s Maggie Murphy fifth.
The men’s paddleboard event was another thriller as three racers all got on a wave as they approached shore, but Wyatt McDevitt of Wildwood Crest made it to the finish first. Afterwards, an out of breath McDevitt gave a double thumbs up when asked about the race.
Clay Stephens of the Cape May Beach Patrol was second and Andrew Shaw of the OCBP was a close third. Justin Soden of Wildwood was fourth and Ben Iannelli of Ventnor fifth.
Longport’s Megan Fox has been the most consistent swimmers the past few summers and kept up her own win streak with another strong swim. Becca Cubbler added more points for Avalon by securing second place. Mary Kate Leonard of Sea Isle was third, the OCBP’s Summer Dewitt fourth and Ava Smith of Upper Township fifth.
Dewitt, in her second year lifeguarding with Ocean City, gave her breakdown of the event.
“I ended up coming in and just trying to ride the curve. The low tide means there was a lot of surf dashing, a lot of running, which isn’t my strong suit but I think I did all right,” Dewitt said. “I’ve been swimming since I was four years old. This has been such a great experience. My dad was a lifeguard, my brother was too. I wanted to try it out and see if it runs in the blood.”
The final event was the singles row, with a much shorter course than the opening doubles row. Brigantine and Avalon were the two boats that would end up battling each other to the finish.
Teams had no problem getting started, as the calm waters led to easy starts. Atlantic City powered into an early lead with Wildwood not far behind. However, as boats began to round the flags the leaders began to change. Brigantine, Avalon and Margate pulled ahead to a neck-and-neck race until it was just Avalon and Brigantine vying for the lead.
As they approached shore, Avalon’s Ryan Finnegan picked up speed to catch a coming wave, which gave him just enough of a lead to beat out Brigantine’s Jack Savell and claim first place.
Longport’s Mike McGrath was third, Margate’s Chris Spiers fourth and Danny Rogers of Sea Isle fifth.
In the end, it was a close race with strong finishes for Brigantine and Margate but Avalon’s all-around excellence could not be denied.
The Avalon Beach Patrol earned 24 points and the trophy. Brigantine followed with 16 points and second place. Margate was third with 16 points, Longport fourth with 12 points and Ocean City fifth, also with 12 points. (A tie-breaker decided the finishes for second and fourth places.)
The Dutch Hoffman Memorials leads into the next two of the big three – the Margate Memorials Aug. 2 in Margate and the South Jersey Championships on Aug. 9 at defending champion Brigantine.
– STORY by EDDIE D’AMICO/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
