JONES BEACH 2ND ANNUAL
INVITATIONAL LIFEGUARD TOURNAMENT
Story by Kylie Cremer Photos by Kevin Sperandeo, Morgan Wellinger & Rene Nova
n the midst of July’s grueling heat wave, eight different beach patrols arrived at Jones Beach on Tuesday the 16th to compete in its annual Invitational Lifeguard Tournament. Despite the 95 degree heat and the sands of Field 5 being unbearable to walk on, the competitors came in high spirits with equipment in hand, ready to display their strengths to their fellow Long Island lifeguards. In only its second year, the Jones Beach Invitational stemmed from competition between the lifeguards at the different fields. “We have a longstanding tradition of what we used to call our Jones Beach Inter-beach Lifeguard Races, and it was exactly what we’re doing here today – a lifeguard competition – but it was between the lifeguards in the different fields of Jones Beach,” explained the event’s coordinator Cary Epstein, who himself is also a guard. In 2012, Jones Beach wanted to try something new, thus prompting them to invite lifeguards from beaches across Long Island to join in their competition. “Last year we put together the first tournament and it’s growing each year,” said Epstein. “Each year we hope it gets bigger and bigger because it’s nice to have other visiting beach patrols come down and share the same love of what we all love to
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As a former pool guard, when I first heard of lifeguard competitions I didn’t quite understand them. Because I spent my time on stand lazily looking out on an empty pool half the time, I couldn’t imagine what a lifeguard competition could possibly consist of. Attending this event, however, showed me that the world of the ocean guard is much different than that of the pool guard. The competition teams compete in events which mirror lifesaving practices – the rescue race relay, the landline rescue relay – and ones that demonstrate the pure strength, endurance, speed and fitness required to be an efficient lifeguard, such as the two mile beach run, the run-swim-run, the distance paddle and distance swim, the 4x100 soft sand relay, the swim/paddle/run relay and beach flags. Eight man teams competing in a total of nine events, many of which would pose incredible difficulty to the average beach-goer. To the lifeguards on Long Island, however, it’s just another day in the office. “Every day we put effort forth,” said Town of Islip’s senior guard Alex Scichilone. “There’s a lot of running, swimming, land training and sprinting. It’s about a good hour a day that we devote to training when we’re off the stand.” And this year’s training has been more intense for the guards of Town of Islip, as they were the champions of this event in 2012.
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