Lifeguard racing has been a staple of summer on local beaches for over a century.
Last week’s South Jersey Championships in Avalon marked the 105th edition of the event. The first one was held in 1919, when Atlantic City Beach Patrol chief Charles Bossert held a doubles row involving crews from Cape May, Wildwood and Atlantic City.
It has since become as much of a part of summer on the Jersey Shore as strolling the Ocean City Boardwalk on a cool evening, getting sandy and salty at the beach in Ventnor, and being careful to “Waa, waa, watch the Tram Car please” in Wildwood.
This summer was chock full of exciting races in events that stretched from Cape May Point to Brigantine.
Along the way, the Atlantic City Beach Patrol emerged as the top team this summer, posting back-to-back victories in the Margate Memorials and South Jersey’s.
Other patrols also enjoyed success. Cape May relied on its depth and versatility to take top honors at the Dutch Hoffman Memorials in Wildwood for the first time since 1997.
On the women’s side, Atlantic City emerged as the top team by winning the Longport Women’s Invitational and Bill Howarth Women’s Invitationl races. Longport edged Margate in the South Jersey Women’s Championship in Ventnor.
Here are some of the top rowers, swimmers, paddleboard racers and other competitors who contributed to another outstanding summer for one of the area’s most popular and exciting sports.
Open doubles row
This summer featured a number of tandems that could lay claim to being the best boat.
Atlantic City’s Vince Granese and Nick Guidara get the nod as the top doubles pair after by winning the Dutch Hoffman and South Jersey races.
Longport veterans Mike McGrath and Sean Duffey continued their long streak of success as the only one of the 15 doubles crews to finish in the top five of all three major races.
McGrath and Duffey placed fourth at the South Jersey’s after taking fifth at the Dutch Hoffman’s and second in Margate.
Margate’s Bobby Bechtal and Hayden Smallwood was also one of the top boats, winning on their host beach and placing fourth at the Dutch Hoffman’s.
Upper Township’s Chase Brown and Ryan Manning had a pair of second-place showings at the Dutch Hoffman’s and South Jersey’s, respectively. Cape May’s Andrew Treffeison and Mike Fitzpatrick were third in both events.
Open swim
A slew of outstanding swimmers made waves in the major races, but Atlantic City’s Charles Schreiner was at the top of the pack.
Schreiner, a graduate of Egg Harbor Township High School and a rising junior at Boston University, won both the Dutch Hoffman’s and Margate Memorials before finishing third behind Avalon’s Tim Hanway and Upper Township’s Logan Manning in the South Jersey’s.
Schreiner, Hanway and Manning all placed in the top five in each of the three major races. Brigantine’s James Haney and Ventnor’s Brian Falk were top-five in two of the events.
Singles row
Cape May’s Michael Fitzpatrick was the most successful of a large contingent of tremendous singles rowers this summer.
Fitzpatrick was the only two-time winner in singles, earning victories in the Dutch Hoffman’s and Margate Memorials. He also finished third in the Cape May County Championships behind Wildwood Crest’s Jake Klecko and Avalon’s Ryan Finnegan.
Granese thwarted Fitzpatrick’s bid for a “Big Three” sweep with a thrilling win in the South Jersey’s. The 35-year-old was one of only two rowers to earn points with top-five finishes in all three major singles races along with Longport’s McGrath.
According to SJL Racing, McGrath’s fifth-place finish in the South Jersey’s enabled him to set a record as South Jersey’s alltime career points leader.
McGrath, who has won three South Jersey singles titles (2016, ’18, ’25) has unofficially amassed 100 career points primarily by rowing in singles and doubles various events.
He reportedly passed former Ventnor rower David Funk in the career standings.
Funk was a fourth-time South Jersey singles champion (2006, ’07, ’09, 15) and teamed with Andrew Funk (’02, ’03), Mike Tripician (’06, ’08, 12) and Mike Holland (’17) to win six doubles South Jersey races.
Open paddleboard
Cape May’s Clay Stephens had superb showing in paddleboard races.
Stephens won both the Cape May County Championships and Dutch Hoffman Memorials and did so by comfortable margins.
North Wildwood’s Luca DeFrisco also placed in the top five in both events.
Men’s surf dash relay
The highlight of the Cape May County Lifeguard Championships in Wildwood Crest is almost always the surf dash relay.
This year was no different.
Ocean City’s Matt Bell, Wyatt Clayton, Andrew Shaw and anchor Jack Behm combined to win an exciting race and also help Ocean City earn the overall team title. Behm caught a wave at the end of the final leg to edge Wildwood Crest.
Women’s doubles row
Longport’s Lauren and Madelyn Fox were the top women’s doubles boat this summer.
They opened the season with a victory in the Longport Women’s Invitational and ended it with another win in the South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championships.
Ventnor’s Charlotte Thomas and Kailey Nirenberg took first in the Bill Howarth Women’s Invitational by edging Upper Township’s Connell and Kailey Grimley.
A special shoutout goes to Sea Isle City’s Molly and Maura Quinn. When a member of Sea Isle’s regular doubles crew was forced to withdraw due to injury at the Margate Memorials, the Quinn’s stepped in and became the first women’s doubles crew to compete in the 80-year history of the race.
Women’s swim
Atlantic City’s Ady Elko was arguably the area’s most dominant lifeguard competitor this summer.
Elko won all three major women’s races she entered, taking first in the Longport Women’s Invitiational, Bill Howarth Women’s Invitational and South Jersey Women’s Championships.
Cape May’s Madelyn Cassidy was another top performer. She won the women’s swim at the Dutch Hoffman Memorials and took second to Elko in the South Jersey Women’s race.
Ocean City’s Rhylee Cornell won the Cape May County Championships.
Women’s singles row
This was a wide-open event this summer with the three major events producing separate winners.
Margate’s Alexis Smallwood was the South Jersey Women’s champion. Ventnor’s Sam Keough easily won the Longport Invitational while Atlantic City’s Madison Lisitin nipped Longport’s Maddie Fox to win the Bill Howarth Invitational.
Women’s paddleboard
This was another event that produced multiple champions.
Brigantine veteran racer Grace Emig won at the Dutch Hoffman Memorials in a narrow victory over Ocean City’s Brynn Gallagher.
Wildwood Crest’s Lauren Crouthamel was first in the Cape May County Championships and placed third at the Dutch Hoffman’s.
Upper Township’s Gemma Kohles earned the top spot in the Longport Women’s Invitational ahead of Margate’s Maria Zappone and Gallagher.
Women’s surf dash relay
Again, different races produced different winners.
Atlantic City’s Emma Crozier, Grace Marczyk, Tess Roman and Madison Listinsin crossed first in the Longport Women’s Invitational just ahead of Margate.
Margate’s Isabella Jordanov, Ava McDole, Kami Smallwood and Callie Duff answered with a victory in the Bill Howarth Invitational.
Ocean City’s Abby Hays, Chloe Care, Grace Cullen and Claudia Booth were first in the Cape May County championships.
Congrats to all the competitors for another outstanding lifeguard racing season.
But most importantly, thank you for keeping our beaches safe for another summer.
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. Send comments to weinbergd419@comcast.net.
