Balance carried the Atlantic City Beach Patrol to its biggest win in decades Friday night.
Two victories from rower Vince Granese and another solid effort from swimmer Charles Schreiner helped Atlantic City win the team title for the first time in 26 years at Avalon’s 35th Street Beach.
“This feels great,” said Granese, who won the singles row and teamed with Nick Guidara to earn first place in the doubles. “It means a lot.”
Atlantic City scored 13 points to edge two-time defending champion Avalon by two points. It gave the beach patrol its first South Jersey team title since it shared the honor with Margate in 2000. It marked its first outright team win since 1998.
Afterward, the patrol celebrated by holding the trophy aloft while echoing Mayor Marty Small’s favorite proclamation.
“Can you say, ‘Great Day?’” Small often says. “It’s another great day in Atlantic City.”
A large crowd stood at the water’s edge for the races, which is considered the biggest event on the South Jersey. Cheers erupted up and down the shore line while fans rooted for their favorite patrols.
Granese and Guidara, Upper Township’s Chase Brown and Ryan Manning, and Cape May’s Mike Fitzpatrick and Andrew Treffeisen led the charge for much of the doubles row before Granese and Guidara surged ahead over the last 20 yards.
“We turned at the (halfway point) in second place behind Upper,” Guidara said. “I was watching them the whole time on the way in and I figured they were going to catch a wave at the end. I knew if we wanted to have a chance, we had to get cranking.”
Avalon’s Tim Hanway relied on homefield advantage to win the swim.
He was also locked in a tight race with Upper Township’s Logan Manning and Schreiner, who won back-to-back South Jersey crowns in 2023-24.
The 18-year-old caught a late wave to take the lead before standing and sprinting out of the ocean while fans and fellow Avalon lifeguards, including two-time South Jersey swim champion Dolan Grisbaum (2022, ’25) urged him on.
“I sit on this exact beach and swim this course every day, so I knew what to expect,” said Hanway, who is headed to Loyola University in Maryland later this month. “I haven’t won a race all summer, but I won the one that matters most. To win it and to win it here in Avalon is pretty flipping awesome.”
Atlantic City and Upper Township were tied for first place entering the singles row with eight points apiece, adding even more drama to the race.
Granese wasn’t concerned about that.
“I didn’t want to know anything about the standings or how many points we needed to win (the team) title,” he said. “This race was for me. All I wanted was to win a South Jersey singles race. That’s all I was focused on.”
He accomplished his goal during a controversy-filled race.
Another boat crossed the finish line first, but was eventually disqualified for improperly turning the flag at the halfway point.
Granese thus became Atlantic City’s first South Jersey champion in the singles row since Mike Alton in 1996 and was its first two-race winner since Charles Yates in 1938.
“You can be in the best shape of your life, but that doesn’t always matter in this race,” Granese said. “You’ve gotta hurt to win this race. And I was willing to do that.”
Two days before Atlantic City’s victory, Longport edged Margate to win the South Jersey Women’s Lifeguard Championship in Ventnor.
The patrols both scored nine points in the doubles row, swim and singles row. Longport won the traditional tiebreaker by winning the doubles row behind sisters Lauren and Madelyn Fox.
Margate was paced by singles rowing champion Alexis Smallwood, who also teamed with sister Kamryn Smallwood to place second in the doubles.
Atlantic City placed third with eight points, led by swimming champion Ady Elko.
Perhaps the best way to determine South Jersey’s top beach patrol for this summer is to add the men’s and women’s scores for each team from their respective events.
Under that scenario, Atlantic City earned top honors with 21 points. Avalon would be second with 14 total points, followed by Longport (12), Sea Isle City (8) and Upper Township (8) and Cape May (7).
Here’s hoping the powers that be figure a way to hold both South Jersey events at the same time at the same beach.
Maybe it could also expand the races to include men’s and women’s paddleboard races.
One way to handle it would be to turn it into a two-day event similar to the annual Long Beach Island Lifeguard tournament.
The crowds would be even larger and the excitement level would be even higher.
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.
Photos by Steffen Klenk
