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65-year-old is back on Ocean City Beach Patrol as rookie
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OCEAN CITY - When the Beach Patrol toughened its re-qualification standards this year, Senior Lifeguard Michael Hamilton did the unexpected.
Despite working as a lifeguard off and on since 1960, Hamilton, 65, took Ocean City's rookie exam and competed last month against college students and high schoolers, some as young as 16.
The Beach Patrol changed the test for returning lifeguards by requiring everyone to meet the same time limits for each event, including a half-mile run. For more than 10 years, Ocean City gave a time allowance to lifeguards based on their years of experience.
Hamilton said he is still a good swimmer and rower, despite his approaching eligibility for Social Security benefits. But he could not complete the half-mile run in the 3 minutes, 45 seconds allowed. He finished in 4:19.
"I can't keep up with those gazelles on the track," he said.
After failing the re-qualification exam in May, Hamilton joined 92 other rookie candidates last month in the four-part test consisting of swimming, running, rowing and a surf dash. The running portion counted for just 20 percent of the overall score.
As he prepared to compete in the swim, Hamilton overheard one female spectator exclaim, "Is that old man going to do the swim?"
But he said he was confident he could keep up with the rookies in the water. He did especially well in the surfboat row.
"The kids see this old guy take off and kill it," Hamilton said. "After 30 years of experience, I ought to be able to row the damned boat."
Lt. Edwin Yust, 68, spent the past 52 years keeping swimmers safe on Ocean City's beaches. He, too, failed to pass the tougher timed run during this year's re-qualification exam. Yust ran the half mile in 4:58.
Afterward, he attended the rookie test to lend Hamilton some peer support.
"I thought it was superb - to see an older man who keeps himself in fairly good shape do as well as he did," Yust said. "It was impressive. He held his own and did well because he knows the ocean. It did him justice. He's like a fish."
Hamilton, a retired Atlantic City teacher from Somers Point, said he thinks the Beach Patrol changed the qualification exams this year in retaliation for his filing an ethics complaint against Beach Patrol administrators for allegedly hiring or promoting less-qualified guards based on personal relationships.
The city's Ethics Board is investigating the complaint.
Neither Fire Chief Joseph Foglio Jr. nor Beach Patrol Chief of Operations Thomas Mullineaux returned calls this week seeking comment.
City Solicitor Keith Szendrey said the city changed the lifeguard exam for the sake of consistency. This year, every returning lifeguard had to meet the same time trials.
"The percentage that failed was no different than in the past," Szendrey said. "There was some concern because the testing standards were inconsistent."
Hamilton is among the 37 rookies selected this year for the Beach Patrol.
By not re-qualifying, Hamilton loses his standing as a senior guard and will make less money per hour this year. He submitted retirement papers to the city's Personnel Department this week so he could protect his pension.
Yust, who did not make the cut as a rookie, said he could have passed the re-qualification exam under last year's rules. Speed is not the only trait in defining a good lifeguard, he said. The Beach Patrol stands to lose some valuable experience if physical skills alone are measured each season.
"These older guards who come back are a benefit to the young kids. There are certain things they don't know," he said.
Hamilton said he felt pretty good about his performance in the rookie exam.
"I just wanted to prove a point - that I'm still capable of being a guard," he said.
Posted in Cape_may on Thursday, July 2, 2009 7:15 pm Updated: 9:39 pm.
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