A Look Back
By Fred Miller
The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s tradition of winning intercity rowing and swimming competitions has its roots in the Olympic Games. Long before the local lifeguards won a South Jersey championship, OCBP Hall of Famer John B. Kelly Sr. was wearing three Olympic gold medals.
Kelly, competing in Antwerp, Belgium on Aug. 18, 1920, won two Olympic sculling races. He beat Jack Beresford of Great Britain in the single sculls, and in partnership with his cousin, Paul Costello, easily defeated the Italian crew in the double sculls.
Kelly, competing in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France, won another gold medal in the doubles rowing with Costello.
With the support and encouragement of John B. Kelly, Ocean City lifeguard Augustus Goetz rowed in the pair-oared shell with coxswain in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Holland.
Four years later, Kelly encouraged Charles Kieffer, a championship rower on the Ocean City Beach Patrol, to compete in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. With Kelly’s support, Kieffer won a gold medal on Aug. 12, 1932. His event–the pair-oared shell with coxswain–had never been won by an American crew. Kieffer, rowing in the bow, Joseph Schauers, rowing in the stern, and Edward Jennings coxswain, came through with a fine performance to beat Poland by a length and a half.
Lifeguard Archie Harris, a world champion discus thrower, was on the 1940 Olympic team, but they were canceled.
Jack Kelly Jr. won the OCBP and South Jersey rowing championships in 1944, then rowed in four Olympics–1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. The OCBP Hall of Famer is the last American to win a medal in the single sculls.
In 1988, rowing in the men’s eight in Seoul, South Korea, John Pescatore won a bronze medal.
A total of ten Ocean City lifeguards have been on the USA Olympic team: John B. Kelly (1920, 1924), Paul Costello (1920, 1924), Augustus Goetz (1928), Charles Kieffer (1932), Archie Harris (1940), Jack Kelly Jr. (1948, 1952, 1956, 1960), Tom Aretz (1968, 1972), John Pescatore (1988, 1992), Peter Wright (1996), and Stephen “Sid” Cassidy (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024).
