Brick, NJ

LIFE'S NOT A BEACH WITH SUMMER JOB AS AREA LIFEGUARD By Keith Hagarty --Photos By Keith Hagarty Looking over the rough surf on the beach of Seaside Park, lifeguard Joe Schafer, 18, of Toms River, said becoming a lifeguard was one of the best decisions he's ever made. Summer jobs are a rite of passage for American teens, brief flashes of employment that are inevitably filled with memories that last a lifetime. Memories that can help build a future. Few places offer as many unique summer jobs as the Jersey Shore. In this, the fourth and final of a four-part series, we'll look at what it's like to be lifeguard at the Jersey Shore. Starting out as a beach badge checker eight years ago on the beach of Seaside Park, 20-year-old Maggie Taverna, of Howell, knew she always wanted to be a lifeguard and follow in the footsteps of her older brother and sister. "It's a great way to stay in shape for all the sports I do outside of school," she said. "I also liked the whole idea of helping people and being there for them. At first, it was a little scary being just a 16-year-old kid with people's lives in your hands, but at the same time, it feels like a noble thing. It's definitely a great job to get into. I've had so much fun." (l-r) Maggie Taverna, 22, of Howell, directs swimmers as fellow lifeguards Stephen Theberge, 22, of Toms River, and Meredith Parliman, 25, of Seaside Park, keep a watchful eye. With about 70 full-time and part-time lifeguards stationed throughout the summer on 14 elevated stands spanning 1.6 miles of sand, beaches like Seaside Park have been an employment haven for local teens and college kids looking to do their part to ensure the safety of all swimmers. Saying the ocean is her second home, Taverna looks back to the warnings her mother gave her as a kid paddling in the waves. "I would always go in the ocean to play and have fun. I didn't know any better. Like my mom would always be like, 'there's an undertow, there's a riptide, be careful,' and I was always like, 'yeah, whatever,'" she said. "But now I'm a lifeguard I realize that, yeah, they're really is, and you see what happens when you get caught in them and how you get pulled out, and just all the dangers." Safety and prevention is priority number one for the lifeguards of the Seaside Park Beach Patrol. Every Day Is Different Lt. Steve Neues, who also serves as assistant beach director, has been a lifeguard for 31 years, with the last 21 years being spent working for the Seaside Park Beach Patrol. With decades of experience as a lifeguard, Neues, 46, said there is only one consistent aspect of the job when he sets foot on the beach each morning. "It changes by the day, no day is the same," said Neues. "You could have flat, calm water and think it's going to be the easiest day in the world, then suddenly you'll have somebody who gets a heart attack." When Sgt. Brian Rybasack, 37, first thought of becoming a lifeguard at Seaside Park 18 years ago, he looked to things he loved the most. "I just loved the beach, loved to surf, and it really drew me here," he said. "At the time, I was just starting college, going to be a teacher, and it kind of fit together really well." With the images of lifeguards ingrained in the American psyche as far back as Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon playing Beach Blanket Bingo" all the way up to the Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff's "Baywatch" generation, there are general misconceptions about what it's actually like to work as a lifeguard. "Some think that it's an easy job," said Rybasack. "People may think of lifeguarding as a piece of cake with the beach, the sand and sun, but it's a lot more than that. It's learning the ocean, learning the currents and all the hard work that goes with it." Neues agreed, saying those who don't want to push themselves and are looking for a soft, cushy job should look somewhere else. "We train every morning at 8:30," said Neues. "There's a lot of training that's involved in it." Group training has each lifeguard being immersed in an intense regiment of swimming, running, rowing, paddling each morning to keep them in top physical shape. In addition, during the less busy days, lifeguards can also continue their training sessions later in the day. In addition, rookie lifeguards must undergo a concentrated initial training program, lasting approximately three to four days. "It's every aspect of lifeguarding," said Neues, "from wind direction to water currents, such as how to spot a rip current, how to use the rescue equipment, how to make transmissions on the radios, CPR and first aid and using the defibrillator- every guard is trained on that." Working With The People Taverna recalled one scary incident where she was quickly reminded how dangerous the job is. "I grabbed the torp (torpedo flotation device) and ran down, and there was like six people in the water and they were just getting sucked out, and there was already one lifeguard in the water, so I swam out with two other guards to get the four women and two men because they couldn't get in because they were caught in a rip," she said. "When I swam out to them, one of the ladies started grabbing right onto me to try and save herself, but I had to push her off me immediately. You have to push them off you and get them to calm down right away, or they'll drown you. That's why you get them to grab the torp, and not you." Staying cool under pressure is key for any lifeguard, mindful of the emergency situation but ready to act in an instant. "When it happens, you just go," said lifeguard Joe Schafer. "It doesn't matter how bad it is, you just go." Now in his third year as a lifeguard, Schafer, 18, said he's always had a love for the ocean, remembering when he was an inquisitive kid standing next to the lifeguard stands, picking their brains. "I've pretty much been at the beach my whole life ever since I was a little kid, always looking up to the lifeguards, and I just always wanted to be a lifeguard," said the Toms River native. "Coming to this beach was probably one of the best choices I've ever made. It's a great beach to work at. The older guards, the sergeants, they really help you and teach you a lot. You learn so much just from lifeguarding." Perhaps Schafer's biggest surprise on the job has been handling the plethora of personalities you're faced with on a daily basis. "I learned how much people don't really listen to us," he joked. "But I don't get angry unless they completely ignore me." Being a popular summer destination hotspot, the lifeguards quickly have to adapt to the types of beachgoers swimming in the ocean, and constantly direct where and how they swim to avoid potential disaster. "We always call them in and talk to them, and tell them things like, 'you can't go there, stay in close, it's knee deep, it's waist deep,' and they usually understand you," said Schafer. "The nicer you are, the more people will listen to you and respect you." While she always tried to keep a smile on her face, Taverna recalled a recent incident where three young girls continued to swim past designated flags despite a powerful riptide current and repeated whistles and warnings. In those situation, sometimes you have to be completely blunt with swimmers for their own safety, even if it means coming off like the bad guy. "You don't try to scare them, but you definitely want to tell them how it is," she said. "You say, 'look, there's a huge riptide and you'll get sucked out if you don't stay between the flags, so please listen.' It's preventive." Despite the mountain of training involved in life-saving measures, the best way to make sure no one's life is in harm's way is to always try and stop an incident before it becomes an emergency situation. "First and foremost, our responsibility is prevention and making sure nothing happens in the water," said Neues. "You don't want to have to go in and get someone when they're drowning because it means you've waited too long." Saying he was using a classic line from one of his fellow lifeguards, Rybasack stated it plain and simple. "A good lifeguard is a dry lifeguard," he said. Constant Training Required What does it take to be a successful lifeguard? "First of all, we're looking for good swimmers," said Neues. "We need someone who can give us their high school years and college years. Someone who's willing to give their junior, senior year of high school all the way to their years in college- a long-term investment." While teenagers aren't generally regarded by employers as the most mature workforce in the world, to be a lifeguard you must act like a responsible adult at all times, according to Neues. "If you're 16, then we expect you to be a lot more mature than the average 16-yearold," he said. "There's a certain amount of maturity that's got to go along with your position because you're protecting people's lives. You're calling the shots. The 16-yearold kid that acts like a man, that's what we're looking for." Neues singled out the three decades worth of service by Captain Joseph Gomulka, who serves as beach director, as invaluable in teaching him all he knows. With this knowledge, evaluating whether a potential lifeguard is going to make it can be accomplished rather quickly. "When we give them the swim test, we pretty much have a pretty good idea of how someone's going to be," said Neues. "Also, just by the way they conduct themselves, from their maturity level, like how they answer our questions, you can tell usually right away if someone's mature enough to handle the job." With rookies being partnered with senior lifeguards at all times in their first year, the experience they gain is invaluable no matter how green they may be. "We're usually always right with the guys that we hang onto," said Neues, "and the ones we hold onto, and know they're going to be good, are very good." However, becoming a highly proficient lifeguard doesn't just happen overnight. "You don't know lifeguarding in your first year," Neues explained. "I always say it take three years to become a good lifeguard because by then you've seen every scenario, you've seen every situation, you've seen every crisis, you've seen just about everything." Schafer is 100 percent in agreement. "Rookie year, you learn a lot from the older guards you sit with, they teach you everything," he said. "The second year, you're kind of on your own and start to realize what's happening and what you should do, and by the third year, you're pretty much on top of your game, but you still have room to learn more." Once you're a lifeguard, you always want to come back every summer, they all agreed. "It's in my blood. It's a part of me," said Rybasack. "It's the love of the ocean. The love of saving people, the camaraderie, and I think everyone here feels the same way." Explaining why he's drawn back to his lifeguard duties each and every summer, Neues summed it up best. "You always smile when you come to the beach, no matter how bad your day is," he said. "Give us the worst and we'll still deal with it."