On Wednesday, July 29, NYC Parks sent a team of 24 Rockaway Beach lifeguards and six Staten Island lifeguards to Lido Beach to compete in the Town of Hempstead’s fourth annual All Women’s Lifeguard Tournament.
More than 200 competitors representing beaches across Long Island, and as far away as Ocean City, Maryland, filled the beach for a day of competition and camaraderie. The female competitors, armored in almost every color of bikini imaginable, tested their speed, endurance and rescue skills in events ranging from distance runs and beach flags to surf rescues, paddle rescues and the demanding Ironwoman race, consisting of a run, swim, run, paddle, run.
Rockaway Beach lifeguard Elle Riches took second place in the distance run, and the NYC team earned third place in the run relay, thanks to Elle Riches, Amber Walters, Kathleen Conti, and Jordan Moore. NYC lifeguards also scored several top 10 finishes across the day’s events.
While we didn’t make the podium as a team, we came back stronger than we did the year before, which was our first tournament. This year, we had nearly double the number of girls participating, had a set roster prior to the day of the tournament, had double the supporters, and were lent rescue boards, buoys, and the reel by the Parks Department. And thanks to Parks Department Chief of Special Programs, Bonnie Williams, all of the lifeguards who competed were paid for the day. Our team did well last year — but we stepped it up for the second time around, and hope to continue improving.
Lifeguard tournaments are a great way to encourage guards to stay in shape and train hard throughout the summer. The events in these competitions mirror real rescue skills, strengthening our guards for the real thing. Beach flags require competitors to sprint through soft sand; run-swim-run, swim relays, and surf rescues require lifeguards to navigate surf quickly; and paddle races push guards to maneuver rescue boards through breaking waves as fast and as safely as possible. Those are the same physical and mental demands lifeguards face during rescues on busy summer days.
This tournament in particular also highlights the growing number of women in competitive lifeguarding, giving athletes from different agencies the opportunity to compete together and celebrate one another’s accomplishments.
The competition was fierce, but the true excitement of the day was the chance to celebrate all of the hardworking and passionate female lifeguards competing. During each event, there was a sea of orange-clad lifeguards cheering on the sidelines or the shoreline, from beginning to end. Alongside the team, we had supervisors, Parks Department leadership, and family come to support—and to help us out with photos, pop up tents, lunch, water and Gatorade, and even custom t-shirts from Parks.
For the NYC team, having that kind of support on the sand made the day even more rewarding. The day ended with lots of discussion about next year’s competition, training plans, and finding more tournaments to enter in. There was even some promising talk of bringing back the beloved Rockaway Shack Olympics, a longtime tradition that many guards hope to see revived.
