The Hampton Lifeguard Association’s team in the national lifesaving tournament held last week on South Padre Island in Texas finished fifth among the 25 contending entries from around the country, “a big improvement from last year,” Angelika Cruz said in an emailed report.
The H.L.A., which finished ninth last year, third in 2021 — its highest placement to date — and fifth in 2022, wound up trailing Sussex County, Del., Los Angeles County, Monmouth (N.J.) County, and California State in the standings.
“It was a grueling three-day series of preliminary heats, semifinals, and finals, all in 90-degree heat,” said Cruz, adding that “our competitors showed a true sense of camaraderie, with everyone cheering each other on throughout the entire tournament.”
Lifeguarding skills weren’t the only tests team members underwent. Reportedly, flight cancellations were vexing, resulting in some families having to fly and drive to South Padre Island, and some not making it at all.
“Though we did not have any event champions, we had many outstanding efforts that added to our point total,” Cruz said. “Our highest placement on the women’s side was the runner-up finish of Julia Brierley, Gigi Michaels, Annabelle Mugno, and Kiley Kaiser in the landline relay, and, on the men’s side, the 4-by-100 relay team of Jack Duryea, Liam Knight, Owen McCormac, and Peter Schaefer placed sixth.”
Among the H.L.A. female guards turning in top individual performances were Daisy Pitches, who, in her first year of open competition placed in the top 16 in 10 events, winding up 11th with 56.626 points; Michaels, the 30th-place finisher with 34.50, and Ryleigh O’Donnell, who was 32nd with 33.875 points.
“Peter Schaefer and Liam Knight were the highest point-scorers for H.L.A. on the men’s side, tying for 70th place with 14.063 points each. Jack Duryea and Owen McCormac tied for 96th with 10 points each. Dylan Smith was 128th, and Justin Schaefer was 129th.”
Though no points were scored in the junior lifeguard events, Cruz said that those who did well included: in the U-19 group, Pitches, Luke Ferraro, O’Donnell, Liam Knight, Dylan Smith, and Abby O’Sullivan; in the 14-15 group, Bridget Lockwood, Lizzie Daniels, Vanessa Rizzo, Ginger Griffin, Cybelle Curry, Lilly Early, Dylan Zucker, Miles Menu, Nick Chavez, Evan Schaefer, Hudson Goulart, and Lucy Knight; in the 12-13 group, Heidi Rizzo, Liam Zucker, Charlie Lockwood, Callie Amicucci, Molly Grande, Sky Goulart, Nicholas Pasquale, and Mia Milazzo, and, in the 9-11 group, Evelyn Rizzo, Bevin Skibo, Mason Curry, and Jackson Bahel.
Individual event winners among the juniors included: Ferraro in the U-19 beach sprint; Bridget Lockwood in the 14-15 swim; Cybelle Curry in 14-15 beach flags; the 14-15 rescue relay and rescue race team of Daniels and Vanessa Rizzo; Evelyn Rizzo in the 9-11 junior ironguard; Mason Curry in the swim, the run-swim-run, beach flags, and junior ironguard, and Curry and Bahel in the rescue race.
Junior runners-up included: O’Donnell in the 2-kilometer run; Lizzie Daniels in the run-swim-run; Evan Schaefer in beach flags; Goulart in the distance run; Dylan Zucker and Menu in the rescue race; Bridget Lockwood and Lucy Knight in the rescue race; the swim relay teams of Menu, Chavez, and Zucker, and Vanessa Rizzo, Daniels, and Griffin; the board relay team of Daniels, Lilly Early, and Cybelle Curry; the resue race relay team of Lucy Knight and Lockwood; Evelyn Rizzo in the swim, and Rizzo and Skibo in the rescue race.
As for H.L.A.’s 30-and-over guards, Dave Riley scored 22 points, Cruz 17, Tom McGlade 16, Jon Tarbet 13, Mike Bahel 10, Barry Moore nine, Sean Knight six, Craig Brierley three, and Tim Treadwell one.
