VENTNOR — The top two teams tied and the third-place finisher was just one point behind during the 2nd annual South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championship on Aug. 12 at Suffolk Avenue beach.
The Longport Beach Patrol edged out the Margate City Beach Patrol on the strength of its win in the doubles row, the tiebreaker, after the MCBP’s Alexis Smallwood won the final event to tie the score at 9 points apiece.
The Atlantic City Beach Patrol, whose women won the Longport and Ventnor events this summer, was a close second with 8 points. The Sea Isle City Beach Patrol was fourth with 5 points and the Cape May Beach Patrol fifth with 4 points.
It was a beautiful night with a gentle breeze and a nearly flat ocean, meaning strength and skill would determine the winner instead of a lucky wave.
Longport got off to a great start when the sister duo of Maddie Fox and rookie Lauren Fox won the doubles row. Lauren had just returned to competing after three weeks off due to injury.
“I’m just so happy we did it. We missed kind of a critical moment in training, so I’m just happy she’s healthy, we’re back and we were able to do it,” Maddie said.
Lauren said it was “super exciting” to win the race with her big sister, earning 5 points.
“I grew up coming to lifeguard races, watching my sister Maddie compete for the past three years. So being able to row with her after being injured was definitely super exciting,” Lauren said.
Maddie said they got off to a good start.
“We knew that the start is kind of actually our weak point. So we knew we’d have to really make up for that. So on a night like tonight, just finding the little teeny, tiny bumps that don’t look present to everyone, but to the experienced rowers, we see them. So just kind of using that to our advantage, trusting our training,” she said. “So it definitely benefited more of the experienced people rather than the newer rowers tonight.”
Another sister duo, Alexis Smallwood and Kamryn Smallwood of the MCBP, took second place to earn an important 4 points. The ACBP crew of Julianna Granese and Michelle Burwell was third, Charlotte Thomas and Leah Nirenberg of the Ventnor City Beach Patrol were fourth and Haley Crispell and Molly McDonnell of the Avalon Beach Patrol were fifth.
Addy Elko, a newcomer to ocean racing this season, won the swim and another 5 points for the ACBP, giving them 8 total after two events.
Elko won the swim the previous week during the Bill Howarth Women’s Lifeguard Invitational at the same location.
“It was my goal to win, obviously, since I’ve been winning the past couple races, so it feels good just to achieve the final goal this summer of winning South Jersey,” she said.
Elko said the calm conditions made going out easier but provided no help on the way back to shore.
“There was not really a current; there was no waves to ride in. So for me, it was definitely harder than other races because I wasn’t getting pushed in as much, and it was farther than all the other races. So that definitely added more difficulty to it,” she said.
The CMBP’s Madelyn Cassiday was second in the swim. She had won the event during the Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Championships on July 31.
“It feels really good. Great big race and I’m lucky to be here with all these girls,” she said. “This is my first South Jersey, so I’m definitely excited to be here.”
Cassiday said it helped that she swam at the same location the previous week during the Bill Howarth Women’s Lifeguard Invitational.
“We were here last Wednesday, so that was good to get to know the course a little bit. But yeah, overall, it was just a great race,” she said.
Longport’s Jordyn Ricciotti was third, picking up an important 3 points to tie the ACBP. Delaney Burns of the SICBP was fourth and Ryann Lowry of the VCBP was fifth.
Heading into the final event, Longport and Atlantic City each had 8 points and Margate had 4. A win in the singles row would give the MCBP 9 points and the win if the others failed to place.
Smallwood solved the first part of the equation by winning a close race that could have been won by any of three or four boats.
“We all knew that tonight with this ocean it was going to be a nail-biter. I mean no waves, no help, so the whole time you’re just kind of pulling as hard as you can and giving it all you got,” Smallwood said.
The finish was so close and the boats strewn out across a wide area that it was difficult to know who won, even for the rowers.
“After that flag turn, I was so dialed in just to, you know, pull as hard as you can. Last race of the season. I mean, that’s when you give it your all right there,” she said, noting it was her first win in a singles row.
“It being the first official women’s South Jersey makes it that much better. It’s an exciting night for women lifeguards,” she continued.
However, Longport’s Maddie Fox finished fifth to collect 1 point and put her crew in a tie, knowing she and her sister had secured the win with their finish in the doubles row.
“All I was thinking about in the singles is this title is kind of riding on me. So when I was pulling, I said three words the entire race, ‘pull for Longport.’ So I’m just so proud of the girls on our beach patrol. They’ve been working out every single day and pushing each other,” Maddie said.
She said veteran LPBP rowers Mike McGrath and Sean Duffy supported them throughout the season and that all of the hard work paid off, especially with her sister coming back from injury to win the doubles row.
“I’ve competed in this race many times, and this is only my second time winning. So for her to get out there — she’s dragged me out of bed so many times when I didn’t want to get out (to train) — so I’m proud of her for being so mature at such a young age,” Maddie said.
Molly Hoffman of the Brigantine City Beach Patrol was second, Maura Quinn of the SICBP was third and McDonnell of the AVP was fourth.
Longport will host the 3rd annual South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championship next season.
–By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
