Smith Point Lifeguards

Smith Point Lifeguard Team Earns Top Honors For Third Consecutive Year

Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press

By Morley Quatroche III   Jul 21, 2014 4:16 PM

Jul 21, 2014 4:41 PM

For the third straight year, the Smith Point Lifeguards ruled both the sand and water at Main Beach in East Hampton.

On Thursday, July 17, lifeguards from as far west as Mastic and as far east as Montauk competed in the East Hampton Main Beach Ocean Lifeguard Tournament, an annual event that showcases the life-saving skills and athletic prowess of local lifeguards.

While Smith Point took home the men’s title again, the East Hampton Town women also took top honors for the second consecutive year.

The Smith Point male lifeguards (41) beat out East Hampton’s Town ‘A’ team (39) by two total points, despite East Hampton finishing first in four of the seven events. Smith Point won the other three events, but placed at least second in every competition, giving them the overall points victory.

Following Smith Point and the East Hampton Town ‘A’ team were East Hampton Village and the Southampton ‘A’ squad, which were tied at 21.5 points. Westhampton came in fifth with 18 points and East Hampton Town ‘B’ squad finished last with 13 points.

In the women’s portion of the tournament, East Hampton Town led with 28 points and was followed by Southampton with 21 points. Third place honors went to Smith Point with 16 points and East Hampton Village/Town finished in last place with 10 points.

The competition’s events included the following: the distance swim, the distance run, the landline rescue, the rescue board relay, the sprint relay, the run-swim-run relay and the always exciting beach flags competition. Beach flags is a foot race where the lifeguards start by lying flat on their stomachs, facing away from sticks that are placed between 10 and 15 yards behind them, with the amount of sticks being one less than the number of guards. A guard is eliminated in each race and competitors keep going until only two are remaining to battle for the final stick.

All seven events are designed to show off the speed, stamina and endurance of the guards both in the water and on the sand.

Trevor Mott and Thomas Paradiso led the East Hampton Town ‘A’ squad by winning the distance swim and distance run, respectively. This team also was first in the rescue board and run-swim-run relays.

For the East Hampton Town women, Amanda Calabrese was first in the distance swim and Paige Duca won the distance run. Southampton’s men stayed consistent, finishing fourth in four of the seven events while the Southampton women notched first place honors in the landline rescue.

Members of the East Hampton Town teams hailed from Indian Wells Beach, Atlantic Beach in Amagansett, and Kirk Park, South Edison and Ditch Plains in Montauk, and some bay area beaches, such as East Lake, Albert’s and Maidstone Park. The East Hampton village guards came from Georgia, Main and Two-Mile Hollow beaches. Southampton Town squad members traveled from as far west as Ponquogue Beach to as far east as Sagg Main Beach. The Westhampton team included lifeguards from the town’s westernmost beaches, including Tiana and Pikes beaches.