The Jones Beach lifeguard team topped 17 other entrants from beaches all over Long Island, including half a dozen from East Hampton, in last Thursday’s Main Beach invitational tournament, winning both the men’s and women’s divisions.
“Jones Beach came in very strong, finishing first or second in most of the men’s events,” said John Ryan Jr., chief of East Hampton Town’s guards. “And the Jones Beach women dominated the first three events” — the distance swim, the distance run, and the landline rescue — “which distanced them from the rest of the teams. But, all in all, I can say without a doubt that no one on the 18 teams that demonstrated their lifesaving skills and strengths that night went away disappointed with their performance.”
East Hampton Town’s A team — a winner in last year’s tournament here — was the runner-up to Jones Beach in the men’s division, finishing with 62 points vis-a-vis Jones Beach’s 71. Thanks to Ryan Fowkes, who holds eight George Washington University running records, East Hampton’s A team handily won the distance run, the evening’s second event. Jones Beach won the distance swim and beach flags, and placed second in the landline rescue, the sprint relay, and the run-swim-run relay.
Smith Point placed third in the 11-team men’s division; Fire Island was fourth, and Robert Moses was fifth.
In the seven-team women’s division, Smith Point was the runner-up, East Hampton Town’s A team, which won the run-swim-run relay and the rescue board relay, placed third, and East Hampton Village’s entry was fourth.
“When it came to our town teams Liam Knight and Daisy Pitches were the m.v.p.s,” Ryan said. Knight was recently named to the United States Lifesaving Association’s international team.
In another ocean beach competition, the Montauk Ocean Swim Challenge races drew 98 contestants to Montauk’s Kirk Park Beach Saturday morning. The winners were Michael Petrzela (two-mile) Lars Merseburg (one-mile), and Molly Grande (half-mile). The races, in their 16th year, benefited the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation.
The 49-year-old Petrzela, a part-time Springs resident, has been competing in — and winning — the Ocean Swim Challenges’ longest races since they were first held in 2009. He won this year’s two-miler in 48 minutes and 24.63 seconds. Matthew O’Grady, 64, was second in 53:57.81, and Adelaide Cairns, 25, was third in 54:08.26. Angelika Cruz, 54, one of the Y.M.C.A. youth swim team’s coaches, was the runner-up to Cairns in 58:27.87.
Merseburg, who won last year’s half-miler, topped a field of 39 in Saturday’s one-mile race in 26:10.14. Tom McGlade, 60, was the runner-up in 28:13.32. Kacey Mallinson, 31, was the women’s winner — and ninth over all — in 31:38.65. Barbara Bekkedahl, 65, was the women’s runner-up — and 12th over all — in 32:11.42.
The 13-year-old Grande, who was the runner-up to Merseburg in the half-miler last year, bested a field of 25 in that race Saturday, covering the course in 15:32.33. Owen Litman, 12, was second in 16:18.68; Ashley Jones, 39, was third in 19:01.90.
Back to lifeguarding, East Hampton was to have entered teams in the Suffolk County tournament at Smith Point Monday; the Nippers’ tournament was to have been held at Albert’s Landing and Atlantic Avenue Beaches on Monday and Tuesday; Hempstead Beach’s all-female tournament was to have been held yesterday, and East Hampton’s junior lifeguard tourney is to be contested Saturday and Sunday at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett.
The Hampton Lifeguard Association’s senior and junior lifeguard teams are to compete in the national tournament on South Padre Island in Texas from Tuesday through Friday, Aug. 9.
