Their answers? Camaraderie. Mutual support. Testing themselves. Trauma bonding.
CAPE MAY POINT — Kristen Moorby came up with the idea for a “grueling endurance race” for female lifeguards nearly two decades ago.
Only 11 competitors entered the first race. In the 17th edition of the race this past July 23, 56 guards from 17 patrols signed up.
Why?
They love the camaraderie, the support they get from the other women and the chance to test themselves physically in a race so demanding that one guard happily referred to the shared experience as “trauma bonding.”
SEE RELATED STORY: One Grueling Race
That last, mostly humorous item comes from the “challenge” in the event’s name.
The many races in the South Jersey Lifeguard Chiefs Association summer competitions feature a lot of swimming, rowing, paddleboarding, running and surf-dashing, but there isn’t one quite like this.
The competitors have to run 1.25 miles on soft sand. The distance isn’t a problem. The soft sand is a brutal drain on legs. Then they pick up paddleboards and race 1,000 meters. The currents and tides of Delaware Bay do their best to thwart the paddlers’ navigation and throw them off course.
After that is another 550-meter run on more soft sand followed by the final leg — a 500-meter meter swim. The winners can get that all done in under 30 minutes. Organizers cut off the race at one hour.
Years ago, Moorby was talking with other guards who wanted more opportunities to compete and admired the Cape May Beach Patrol’s Superathlon “but wanted something of our own.”
The Cape May Point Beach Patrol’s Women’s Lifeguard Challenge was born.
“This is a grueling endurance race. It uses the three disciplines that we use when we’re doing rescues down here,” Moorby said. “So a lot of soft-sand running, paddling in crazy currents and swimming in crazy currents.
“It’s a testament to being pretty elite at all three and being the best of your squad, your hometown beach patrol, to be able to come here. It’s pretty much your most elite lifeguards here,” she added.
Moorby said the CMPBP is one of the smallest beach patrols in South Jersey with about 21 members. Most are much larger; the Ocean City Beach Patrol at the other end of the county numbers about 180. Moorby said everyone on the patrol does their part to ensure the race is successful.
The fact 17 different patrols entered the event was testament to how well received the Cape May Point Beach Patrol is in the community, the county and beyond.
“It’s a good opportunity to show our strengths,” Moorby said.
Testing themselves
Four competitors came from the Upper Township Beach Patrol: Lorna Connell, 22, a seven-year veteran; Kailey Grimley, 21, a six-year veteran; Lindsay Robbins, 22, in her seventh year; and Ava Smith, 18, with two years on the patrol.
“I’ve practiced rowing a lot, and I got really good at rowing, and now’s the time to get good at running and swimming and paddling because I’m not as good at these things,” Connell admitted. “I know I’m not going to do as well as I do in the rowing races, but I always have to challenge myself.
“And I’m going to do really bad,” she added, “but I’m OK with that because I always get better, you know?”
Grimley is her doubles rowing partner.
“Obviously, rowing is my strong suit and I do that all the time. This year I’ve just been working on trying to get out of my comfort zone and do things that I know I might not be great at and challenge myself to get better as a competitor,” Grimley said. “And I think it’ll be fun to do something that really tests my (other) skills and just have fun with a bunch of lady competitors.”
“It’s just a great challenge every year and to see all the other girls out here,” said Robbins, who often competes as a paddleboarder and swimmer in other competitions. “It’s a great camaraderie event, too. Even just finishing it is a big one, just to get out there and keep pushing yourself.”
Robbins said the hardest part for her “is definitely the run, especially in the soft sand. That’s challenging. Once you’re through the run, it’s kind of smooth sailing from there, but, yeah, definitely the run.”
Smith is doing the event for the second year in a row.
“It was pretty fun last year. We got a lot of goodies,” she said, “and honestly, it just feels good finishing it. You really just do it so then you feel good at the end. You accomplish something.”
Like Robbins, she wasn’t looking forward to the run.
Cape May Beach Patrol guards Emerson Simpson, 19, with two years on the patrol; 18-year-old Alexandra Back, in her third year; and rookie Colette Ungvary, 17, had different expectations.
“It challenges me and I don’t get to do it all year around, so I enjoy being in this special environment with my team in the summer,” Simpson said.
“I’ve pretty much seen this race every single year of my life and it’s just an awesome environment and it’s hard. It’s a good challenge, and I’m excited to do it,” Back said.
She expected the biggest challenge would be reading the current and that the second run would be difficult as well.
“I’ve been watching this for lots of years, and my peers obviously convinced me to do this with them, so I’m really excited to be here,” Ungvary said. “I think I’m stronger running than paddling and swimming.”
Camaraderie and empowerment
Emie Frederick, 21, a six-year veteran of the Wildwood Crest Beach Patrol, said this is one of her favorite races of the summer.
“It’s just so great to have this group of girls all together. We’re all here to support each other. It’s just a lot of fun,” she said. “Yeah, it’s really tough, such a grueling race, but at the end of it, I’m just very happy I pushed through and finished the race.”
The paddle part is the most difficult for her “because of the current. I mean, it just pulls you one way or the other, so you’re fighting very hard one way out or in.”
A veteran competitive surf-dasher, Frederick said the run is probably where she does best.
Maddie Priest, 19, a Crest teammate with four years on the patrol, finished fifth overall at last year’s challenge.
“I think it’s a very empowering race, and I think because it’s hard and a bunch of girls come together to do it, that it makes it all the more impactful and fun,” she said. “And I think it’s a good race to test how athletic and strong we are.”
Kacie Hymers, 26, who has been on the Cape May Point Beach Patrol off and on for six years, believes the challenge is an “awesome event and I feel like it’s one of a kind, you can’t find this anywhere else.
“It combines a lot of different components, which is unique. It really is an event that brings women together, which is awesome. It’s not that often that you can bring this many women together for such an amazing event,” she said.
Hymers said she enjoyed interacting with lifeguards from other patrols, including those who were at the women’s lifeguard conference in Sea Isle City earlier this summer.
She noted the hardest part of the challenge is the run.
“The soft sand catches up with you quick. … I consider myself a runner and this kicks my butt every time,” Hymers said.
Her CMPBP teammate, Samina Bhatia, 18, watched this race before becoming a lifeguard three years ago.
“I’ve grown up coming to this beach and I’ve grown up seeing women do this. And since I became a lifeguard, I’ve just wanted to do this,” she said. “I just think it’s a really great race combining all of our skills, like running, paddling and swimming.”
However, she wasn’t looking forward to the run either.
“I’m not as much a fan of running, so that is very tiring,” she said.
Different perspectives
Four competitors from the Ocean City Beach Patrol offered some different perspectives on the race.
Lt. Kelly Catania, 29, in her 10th year on the patrol, said she loves it.
“It’s a beautiful view and just really rewarding to be able to complete it every year,” she said.
The hardest part? “The run is brutal,” Catania said. “Once I get past that, I know it’s pretty much smooth sailing.”
Julia Cullen, 24, in her third year on the patrol, likes testing her skills.
“I run, paddle and swim every day for the beach patrol, so I figure I’d challenge myself and try all three” in one event, she said.
“Swimming is my favorite — I’m a former swimmer — and paddling is my weakest, but for today, it’s going to be the run in the soft sand that I’m not used to,” Cullen said. “I’m used to the boardwalk.”
Chloe Care, 19, in her third summer on the OCBP and a just graduated top-tier runner at Ocean City High School, was competing in the race for the first time.
“I’ve been racing for the beach patrol and I really just wanted to try something new,” she said. A senior officer “asked me and Claudia if we were ready to step it up. We said yes. We’re very on edge, but we’re here, so that’s all that matters.”
She hoped the run would be the strongest area for her, but expected the soft sand would be a challenge.
Teammate Claudia Booth, 19, a four-year veteran of the patrol, also was a first-timer.
“I wanted to challenge myself a little bit,” she said. Booth was concerned about the paddle because of navigating the currents. “Yeah, we’re a little nervous for that part,” she said.
Amazing to be with all the women
Twenty-five-year-old Kylie Fry, a seven-year veteran of the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, loves the Cape May Point Beach Patrol Women’s Lifeguard Challenge.
“Oh, my gosh, I love this race because I get to be with three of my competitors from the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, which is awesome, and then a bunch of friends from other beach patrols.
“And it’s just amazing to see 60 women able to do such an incredibly hard race,” Fry said.
A fan of the race, Fry isn’t a real fan of soft sand.
“Ooh, that run, especially that second run, cooks my legs up. That really hurts,” she said. “And then especially when you grab the board and try to run down the beach to make your paddle a little shorter, as soon as you grab that extra weight in your hands with the soft sand, ouch!”
Trauma bonding
Wildwood Beach Patrol lifeguard Brynn Donohue has an amusing way to view the race, which she really enjoys.
A 19-year-old, fourth-year lifeguard, she does the challenge “because in my opinion it’s the most fun race of the year. And it’s always worthwhile to me just doing it with my friends.
“Even though it’s challenging, it’s a lot of fun and it’s worth it in the end when you’re passing out,” she said, smiling.
“Then it’s just like a trauma bonding experience with you and like a bunch of other girls from other patrols,” Donohue added.
She said the hardest part is the run because “it’s mostly mindset.”
“So in my head, I just think if I make it through the run, I can make it through the rest of the race.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave and Ocean City Sentinel staff
