Ocean City lifeguard Brynn Gallagher peered out at the rocky surf Monday evening and broke into a smile as bright as the rainbow that was forming over the ocean.
The chest-high waves would make the women’s paddleboard race at the 41st Cape May County Lifeguard Championships extremely challenging for most of the competitors.
But the conditions were perfect for Gallagher, 17, a standout surfer who will be joining older sister Mia on the University of North Carolina-Wilmington’s team in the fall.
“These conditions were awesome for me,” the 2025 Ocean City High School graduate said. “Being a surfer, the waves definitely favored me.”
The strong swells formed a choppy obstacle course for the competitors, swatting the paddlers back toward the beach at the start, then rocking them from side-to-side as they maneuvered parallel to the shoreline before turning a buoy and charging for the sand.
Gallagher caught a wave on the way in and rode it for 25 yards before emerging from the ocean and racing unchallenged 100 yards up the beach to the finish line.
“My older sister (Mia) won this in 2022 and I was hoping to get a chance to win it this year,” Brynn said. “I had some great competition from Wildwood Crest (Maddie Priest) and everyone else out there. It feels great to win it.”
Priest also had reason to celebrate a few minutes later, when she helped host Wildwood Crest win the team title for the first time since 2021.
Wildwood Crest finished with 23 points, one ahead of three-time defending champion Avalon.
It earned the win before a huge crowd that lined the beachfront for most of the races, then formed a human chute that stretched for 50 yards on either side during the final two races of the event, the women’s and men’s surf dash relays.
Those races are what separate the Cape May County Championships from most of the other events on the South Jersey lifeguard racing schedule.
Fans and fellow lifeguards stand 15 deep in the sand and water, providing loud cheers while competitors high-step, porpoise dive and swim out to tag buoys before returning to shore and tagging teammates.
Priest teamed with Sophia Jurusz, Emmie Frederick and Lauren Sweat to win the women’s surf dash relay for the second straight year.
“We absolutely love each other and that’s one of the reasons we work so well together,” said Priest, who ran the anchor leg. “This means everything to us because this is our beach.”
They helped Wildwood Crest score 16 points in the final three events to upset Avalon.
Like Priest, Jake Klecko also played a major role in Wildwood Crest’s victory.
Klecko, whose uncle Joe (New York Jets) and cousin Dan (Patriots, Eagles) played in the NFL, won the singles row, ran the anchor leg on Wildwood Crest’s second-place surf dash relay squad, and teamed with John Steiger to take fourth in the doubles row.
The same waves that helped Gallagher also aided Klecko in the singles row.
He was in third place as the boats made the turn to shore, but caught a huge wave and rocketed past Cape May Point’s Ben Swan and defending champion Ryan Finnegan of Avalon to earn his first County singles title.
“I like rowing in rough water,” Klecko said. “I figured it would come down to whoever caught a wave and was able to ride it in. When I saw the wave at the end, I knew it was my chance and I was able to capitalize on it.”
Midway through the event, it appeared as though Avalon was on its way to another convincing win.
It won three of the first four races, starting with Gary Nagle and Dave Giulian earning their fourth straight victory in the doubles row.
“These conditions were definitely in our favor,” Nagle said. “When it’s rough like this, it separates the good boats from the best boats. Anybody can make their boat move in flat water. This is when experience becomes a factor.”
Especially in ocean rowing. Unlike some crews, Nagle and Giulian never rowed in high school or college.
Both wrestled at Middle Township High School for coach Matt Wolf, who is also the chief of the Avalon Beach Patrol. Nagle went on to wrestle at Ursinus College while Giulian was a first-team all-conference linebacker for the College of New Jersey last fall and also wrestled for the Lions.
Avalon swimmers Tim Hanway and Becca Cubbler also earned challenging, difficult victories.
Hanway, a 17-year-old rising senior at Salesianum School in Delaware, continued the patrol’s tradition of success in the men’s swim by topping Upper Township’s Logan Manning and Ocean City’s Jake Texter.
“This was my first-ever (ocean) race, so I would have been happy just to finish,” Hanway said. “Winning it feels great.”
Cubbler, a 27-year-old Kindergarten teacher, won the women’s swim after taking first in the women’s paddleboard a year ago.
She sprinted across the line ahead of Ocean City’s Rhylee Cornell and 2023 champion Mary Kate Leonard of Sea Isle City.
“That was a tough race,” Cubbler said. “Going out was rough and I couldn’t see the buoy to make the turn because the waves kept slapping me in the face. The key was being able to catch a wave on the way in and I was able to do that.”
Wildwood paddleboard racer John Livingston and the North Wildwood men’s surf dash relay team the other wins Monday.
Livingston earned one of the most exciting victories.
He trailed Ocean City’s Chase Ritter as the two paddled furiously toward shore. Ritter actually emerged from the water in first place, but Livingston quickly passed him and opened the gap during the 100-yard sprint up the beach to the finish line.
“I caught a wave on the way in and that helped a lot,” said Livingston, who also serves as a lifeguard in Florida. “I was able to rest and conserve a little bit of energy while (Ritter) was still paddling. I knew if it came down to the run, I’d be OK.”
North Wildwood prevailed in the men’s surf dash relay for the third straight year.
Peyton Rosenello, Seamus McClain, Chase McCray and anchor Hunter Bostwick helped North Wildwood win the event for the fourth straight year.
“We’re known for this race and we work extremely hard to keep up the tradition,” said Bostwick, who will be running track for DePaul University in Chicago this fall. “It’s an incredible feeling to win it again.”
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points.
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