49 Photos
The men compete in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards compete in the land line rescue at the East Hampton Main Beach Competition on July 21. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards compete in the land line rescue at the East Hampton Main Beach Competition on July 21. RON ESPOSITO
The start of the board rescue relay. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards compete in the land line rescue at the East Hampton Main Beach Competition on July 21. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards compete in the land line rescue at the East Hampton Main Beach Competition on July 21. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards compete in the land line rescue at the East Hampton Main Beach Competition on July 21. RON ESPOSITO
Fellow lifeguards and onlookers watch the guards compete. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards head into the surf during the board rescue race. RON ESPOSITO
Lifeguards head out of the surf during the board rescue race. RON ESPOSITO
The East Hampton Main Beach Lifeguard Competition was Thursday, July 21. RON ESPOSITO
A guard races down the beach. RON ESPOSITO
East Hampton Chief Lifeguard John Ryan Jr. RON ESPOSITO
Guards gather prior to the night's top event, the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The men compete in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The men compete in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The men compete in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The women get ready for the start of the their beach flags event. RON ESPOSITO
The women compete in their beach flags event. RON ESPOSITO
Guards cheer on their teammates in beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The women compete in their beach flags event. RON ESPOSITO
East Hampton Village lifeguards. RON ESPOSITO
The women competing in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
The men competing in the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
Southampton guards, from left, Maura Kane-Seitz, Kiley Kaiser, Elena Mugno and Quinn Banks. RON ESPOSITO
Maura Kane-Seitz and the rest of the guards cheer on their teammates. RON ESPOSITO
Southampton guards Lizzie Knieriemen, left, and Madison Capria. RON ESPOSTIO
Smith Point guards, from left, Dylan Kolar, Jess Freund, Leah Russel and Katie Kolar. RON ESPOSITO
Southampton guard Ryan Duryea in the board rescue. RON ESPOSITO
The Smith Point lifeguard crew. RON ESPOSITO
RSmith Point guard Natasha Yajadda (green suit) won the women's beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
Smith Point guard Natasha Yajadda (green suit) won the women's beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
A pair of Long Beach guards are the last remaining in the beach flags. Connor Llewellyn was the winner. RON ESPOSITO
Smith Point guard Natasha Yajadda (green suit) won the women's beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
"You are now in the hands of the starter." Cameron Burton and the rest of the guards prepare for the start of the beach flags. RON ESPOSITO
Southampton guard Ryan Duryea. RON ESPOSITO
Southampton guard Connor Grauer is spent. RON ESPOSITO
Junior guards watch on. RON ESPOSITO
Cami Hatch gets set for the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
A guard makes the turn back to the finish line in the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
A guard races toward the finish line in the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
Bridgehampton guard Andrew Thayer races toward the water. RON ESPOSITO
Kaila Gagne, far left, and Paige Schaefer help lead out line swimmer Elena Mugno in the land line rescue. RON ESPOSITO
Dave Riley, a Southampton teacher and varsity boys soccer head coach who is a lifeguard himself, watches the Main Beach competition with his daughter Kendall. RON ESPOSITO
East Hampton Village guard Cole Shaw lines up with the rest of the guards. RON ESPOSITO
Guards set off on the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
A guard races toward the finish line in the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
A guard races toward the finish line in the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
A guard makes the turn back to the finish line in the distance swim. RON ESPOSITO
One thing that impressed East Hampton Chief Lifeguard John Ryan Jr. the most about the East Hampton Main Beach Lifeguard Tournament held last Thursday, July 21, was the endurance factor.
With the bulk of the events starting in the early evening, it can be a long night, with the most popular event, the beach flags, completely being taken place under the lights, something Ryan and his crew added a few years back. As Ryan noted, with events constantly turning over, the guards really have no rest time.
“But that’s just real lifeguarding,” he said. “You don’t just pick and choose when you go on rescues. Sometimes that’s how it is, you constantly make those rescues.”
To further that point, on Monday afternoon, Ryan was headed back east from the Smith Point Lifeguard Tournament, where during the paddleboard relay event, Smith Point guards on duty had to make several rescues using the land line rescue technique.
“A lot of people don’t really understand, the whole purpose competing in these competitions is to better your skills, on and off the beach. That’s the reasoning for it,” he explained. “If it was all just about showing up at the beach every day, then that’s what we’d do. But you want to improve your techniques and rescues. You have to keep guards looking at becoming stronger, working on their endurance, pushing themselves on becoming faster and stronger, otherwise what’s the point?
“If you don’t have a carrot out there, things get stale and you rely on what you’ve always done. We want to be very progressive, just look at our junior program,” Ryan continued. “Every day down in the junior program, we have kids learning to push themselves to be faster swimmers in open water. When they become 15 and 16 years old, and they’re becoming lifeguards, the most important part of their education is the ability to step up and compete, which makes them better in the ocean.”
In last week’s Main Beach competition, Ryan’s East Hampton Town guards came up just short of winning their host event, on both the men’s and women’s sides. Long Beach wound up winning the men’s tournament with 68 overall points, just two points ahead of East Hampton Town’s “A” team. Southampton Town’s guards placed third overall with 63 points, followed by Smith Point (60), Town of Hempstead (54), East Hampton Village “A” (42), East Hampton Village “B” (29), East Hampton Town “B” (26.5), Westhampton (17), Bridgehampton Club (10) and Ocean Rescue Legends (15). Long Beach guards Francis Moriarty and Connor Llewellyn won the distance swim and beach flags, respectively. Ryan Fowkes of East Hampton won the distance run.
The women’s tournament was won by Smith Point, which totaled 43 points, followed by East Hampton Town’s “A” team, which took second place with 38 points. Southampton Town placed third with 28 points followed by East Hampton Village (17), East Hampton Town “B” (16) and Town of Hempstead (9). Summer Jones and Dylan Cashin, each East Hampton guards, won the distance swim and distance run, respectively. Smith Point’s Natasha Yajadda won the beach flags.
Ryan said it was disappointing losing both the men’s and women’s tournaments by mere points, but Long Beach and Smith Point are both very competitive beaches that do well, not just in regional competition, but nationally as well — Smith Point is a nine-time national champion.
Speaking of Nationals, the United States Lifesaving Association’s Junior Lifeguard and U19 Championships are August 10, followed by the National Lifeguard Championships August 11-13 in Hermosa Beach, California. Hampton Lifeguard Association, which encompasses guards that represent just about every beach on the South Fork, is set to send teams to competition.
Prior to Nationals, though, both East Hampton and Southampton towns will hold their respective junior and nipper tournaments. East Hampton’s nipper guard tournaments are August 3 at Albert’s Landing and August 4 at Atlantic Avenue Beach. East Hampton’s junior lifeguard tournament is set for August 6-7 at Atlantic Avenue Beach. Southampton Town’s junior lifeguard tournament is August 6 at Ponquogue Beach.
