OCEAN CITY — Dozens of children frolicked in the sun and surf while learning how to stay safe in the sea for the past two weeks under the watchful eyes of seasoned lifeguards of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
Junior Lifeguard Camp introduces youth to ocean lifeguarding, with lessons about surf safety, beach awareness and skills that help them understand the risks of the ocean. Participants are divided into three age groups — 8-9, 10-12, 13-15 — with the experience getting more involved as they get older and progress through the program. Potential lifeguards can take the test starting at age 16.
OCBP resource training officer Andrew Shaw, who returned to lead the program this year, said it is as much about recruiting future lifeguards as it is about teaching beach safety and providing an enjoyable experience.
Shaw, in his eighth year with the camp, said he always oversees the youngest group. He can relate well with them, he said, because he teaches third grade in St. Augustine, Fla., as a side hustle.
“It’s nice getting them to understand the beach and I try to get them excited to come back year after year,” he said. “We’re really trying to make it an educational experience to get them to understand currents, the history of the beach patrol, different things like that, and obviously having fun as well.”
The most important lesson, he said, is “really understanding that the ocean is something that you have to respect, it’s really powerful.” Secondary goals include understanding currents and the importance of swimming near lifeguards.
“If they can relay the information that they learn here to their parents and friends, that is huge,” he said.
Most of the OCBP lifeguards involved in operating the camp are school teachers or studying to become one, Shaw said.
“Everyone is a normal lifeguard, senior guard or training officer, and we put them all together for these camps,” he said. “It’s important to get the right people running the camp who are enthusiastic about the kids.”
Former junior guard Rileigh Booth, 19, a 2021 graduate of Mainland Regional High School, said she enjoys working with the children.
“I just love to see how excited they get every day to come here just to do the things that we do and they think it’s so cool and they love to be here,” she said.
Booth is studying psychology at Florida Goldcoast University in Fort Myers with plans of becoming a speech pathologist in an elementary school.
Fellow MRHS graduate Madeleine McCabe, 24, said it’s the best part of summer.
“I volunteer for this every year,” she said. “These people are our future lifeguards and before they start on the patrol we get to see them grow up.”
Shaw said the participants are a mix of those who hope to become lifeguards some day and others whose parents signed them up for an experience that involves physical and educational aspects.
He said those interested in joining the beach patrol can also take part in the Junior Competition Team, which features advanced training.
“We recently got three good rookies through the team,” he said, noting it’s important to hold onto promising prospects.
McCabe said being a strong swimmer is “definitely a background you want to have,” but said youth who want to do the job will train in the offseason.
The oldest age group, what McCabe called “the last step before they can join the patrol,” consisted of about 16 girls to six boys in the first week. She said that’s a trend she has seen increase over the years, noting there are twice as many females on the OCBP now than when she started.
Twins Natalie and Nadia Hopely, from nearby Egg Harbor Township, exemplify the trend. They were attending their first camp this summer.
“I love how it teaches us to be good lifeguards if you want to do that one day, and we go in the water and do a bunch of fun things,” Nadia said.
“I really like helping on the beach and training people,” Natalie said, noting she wants to be a lifeguard in the future.
Connor Haines, 14, of Radnor, Pa., and Ocean Parkhill, 13, of Philadelphia, were taking part in an ocean rescue drill. They waited on the beach, rescue can in hand and eyes on the swimmers until one simulated drowning. Off they ran into the surf to locate and assist the distressed swimmer.
“It was a good learning experience. In the future if I choose to be a lifeguard that will come in handy,” Connor said.
Ben Kreider, 9, of Mountain Top, Pa., said the rescue drill was his favorite part.
“I think it’s really fun,” he said.
Julia Sparrow, 14, of Philadelphia, whose family has a house on Second Street, said she was enjoying her time on the beach but joined “partially because my parents wanted me to do it.”
“I like that it gets me up in the morning; I probably would have slept in,” she said.
The camps are held 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in mid-July each year, meeting at the patrol headquarters on First Street.
Shaw said they are active camps involving a lot of running, swimming and paddling. They sell out quickly. Cost is $115. Call (609) 525-9200 or (609) 525-9304 for information for next year’s camp.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff