More women lifeguards taking leadership roles on patrols across southern New Jersey
OCEAN CITY — Historically, lifeguarding has been a male-dominated profession, but times are changing.
More and more women have been taking over leadership roles on beach patrols across southern New Jersey after serving for years protecting ocean-goers and working their way up the ranks.
They also are serving as role models, not only for the younger women taking on the responsibility of guarding the beaches, many of them still in high school, but for the young men as well, demonstrating that competency in a job crucial to resort communities along the coast is not based on gender.
“I kind of feel like for a lot of us, we felt a need to prove ourselves or earn our keep among the guys and just show everyone we were just as capable, and as lifeguard intelligent, as could be,” said Kristen Moorby, a senior guard and former lieutenant on the Cape May Point Beach Patrol.
“For us, it took a little longer for us to prove that,” she said. “There’s been a general shift in perspective. I think along with the new youth and patrols having younger guards, and the leadership being the next generation, they’re a little more open-minded. Which is excellent, obviously.”
“I personally have had an incredible experience since my rookie year in 2011, which is why I keep coming back,” said Ocean City Beach Patrol Lt. Samantha Vanderslice, a resource and training officer (RTO). “I definitely know there are people who haven’t on every single patrol. That was my motivation for coming back every year. Even before I was an administrator I strived to bring all the women together, send a group message, have a group workout or all go out to dinner. Build that strong bond among the women on our patrol.”
To increase that bond across the patrols in the South Jersey Lifeguard Chiefs Association, Ocean City hosted a one-day women’s conference last month that attracted more than 50 guards from patrols including Cape May, Cape May Point, Upper Township, Sea Isle City, Ventnor and Margate.
“This year, in my new position (as RTO), I wanted to create the community even broader, with all the patrols, not just the women in Ocean City. Everyone,” Vanderslice said. “I think that’s a huge untapped resource having all the women get together and sharing ideas. We can make this a great place for everyone, not just the women. Men and women.”
Vanderslice and Holly Lesser, the first women promoted as RTO lieutenants on the OCBP, spoke at the conference on the 58th Street beach, as did Moorby; so did Superior Court Judge Nancy Ridgway, the first woman ever hired by the Margate City Beach Patrol; Sara Werner, the first woman promoted to lieutenant on the Cape May Beach Patrol; and Ventnor City Beach Patrol Lt. Meghan Holland.
Vanderslice believes it is important to have women in authority positions.
“I think it’s awesome to show the younger women specifically, but all guards, they can make lifeguarding part of their life and career,” Vanderslice said. “In the past it could be hard to picture yourself rising up through the ranks if there’s no one like you in that role.
“Now we have seven women in the administration. That’s an awesome example and goal for all the young women,” she added. “They are getting those roles as well, so if I want to become a teacher or make the beach patrol work, I can. I’m going to be rewarded for my efforts if I do want to be in those leadership roles later in life.”
Moorby enjoyed the conference and said it had value.
“A big thing I kept hearing at the conference was, ‘I finally have a voice. I can finally be heard,’” Moorby said. “And it’s crazy to think it took so long for that to be the case, but hopefully the thing I tried to keep saying is ‘we have to keep the momentum going, never turn back. We have to keep this going.’
“And it’s not just a female thing either,” she explained. “Guards of any experience, of any age, being heard, being comfortable in the workplace. Those are important in any job.”
Moorby, for one, founded the Cape May Point Beach Patrol Women’s Challenge, a mini-triathlon of running, paddling and swimming for female lifeguards, more than a decade ago after watching men compete in the Cape May Superathlon. She stepped down as lieutenant and became a senior guard because of the demands of her job — she is a production manager for NBC Sports and freelancer for other networks and was at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo covering swimming, diving, water polo and artistic (synchronized) swimming.
“I’ve got all kinds of adrenaline going. I’ve got that (the Olympics), I’ve got the women’s conference,” she said. “It was a whirlwind summer.”
And she was happy she was able to make it back in time for the conference.
Moorby enjoyed spending time with her peers including Holland and Werner.
“I was like, all right, we’re the old ladies here,” she laughed. “This is where we’re at, but it’s kind of cool. The three of us could talk and we’ve seen what it was, what it is and where it’s headed. That’s kind of a really cool way to look at it too.”
She and Vanderslice said the conference included trading information on a range of topics, from the types of swimwear the other patrols were using to programs they might want to implement, such as the resource and training officer. (See related story.)
“I left the conference feeling more excited about the future of lifeguarding and what that means for women and the younger females and males than ever before,” Moorby said. “It was such a good collaboration. There was no competition. It was how can we make this better? How can we progress? How can we all move forward? We are all part of the South Jersey Lifeguard Chiefs Association and we are a family. That’s what it comes down to.”
“Just hearing people talk about things that work for them, where they’ve seen growth on their own patrols, and just bringing that back to our own and saying, ‘Hey, these guys are doing this and it’s working. We should try it,’” she said.
Vanderslice said the conference came about after a couple of Margate lifeguards reached out to the OCBP about the RTO position that was created for first time in the 2021 season.
“If they’re inquiring,” Vanderslice said, “we thought others would want to know about it and want to implement it. That was the real purpose of (the conference). We ended up talking about other things and having a great day.”
As Labor Day passed and the number of guarded beaches began to dwindle along with the summer crowds, Moorby and Vanderslice were already looking ahead to next summer.
“I hope the conference will became an annual event,” Vanderslice said. “The focus this year was to share about the RTO position. We’re already brainstorming a new topic for next year.”
“I hope they do another one and we stay in touch during the off-season,” Moorby said.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff