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No going down under for lifeguards this year
Australians not needed to man LBT stands
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LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP - For the first time in 20 years, the township does not need to go down under to fill its lifeguard ranks. The number of area lifeguards returning to the township's beaches this year is so high that Beach Patrol Supervisor Don Myers said it won't be necessary to hire guards from Australia.
"We had 20 straight years of bringing in Australians to guard. This is the first year we won't," Myers said. "This year, for the first time in my 24th season as supervisor, every single officer and supervisor came back, and a lot of people want to climb the ladder."
For years, Australians have won many lifeguard tournaments on the island, particularly excelling in paddleboard races.
This year, 19 of the 183 veteran lifeguards hired are older than 25 - older than normal, Myers said.
"I'm trying to get the older ones because they're more reliable and settled down - they are married, they teach and they have children," he said.
Myers added that he thinks the trend of veteran guards returning has a lot to do with the economy - but he is not sold on it being solely an economic issue.
"Some of these people have graduated from college, and the jobs just aren't out there. I think a lot of them are apprehensive and nervous about what happens when the summer is over," Myers said.
Steve Burke, 24, of Philadelphia, is a captain with the Beach Patrol, and this will be his ninth summer guarding the township's beaches. For Burke, returning to Long Beach Township's sugar-sand beaches means a steady job - steadier than what he has been able to find since graduating from Boston University in the winter.
"I live in Philly and in the winter I was looking for a job and had no luck finding one. My degree is in history - you either teach or you go back to graduate school," Burke said.
Burke said he decided to go back to school and work this summer waiting tables and guarding the beaches in the Loveladies section of the township.
"I just got accepted to Widener University for law school. I'm going to save as much as I can this summer. I still have to pay my rent in Philadelphia, but lifeguarding is a steady paycheck," he said.
Myers said this season he hired 16 new guards, compared with last year's hiring of 51 new guards. The township Beach Patrol guards 12 miles of Long Beach Island's 18 miles of beaches.
"We've had people from all over. I remember we used to go job fairs and malls, anywhere to try and get employees. We were always out beating the bushes," he said.
Only 21 new beach-badge checkers were hired from 172 applicants, he said.
This year, 65 people applied for lifeguard positions.
"Thirty-eight met the minimum requirements, and we only hired 16 because of all the veterans that came back," he said.
Shannon Dries, 33, of New Providence, Union County, will return to her captain's post on the Holgate section of the township's beaches this weekend. Dries, a school guidance counselor, has been lifeguarding for 16 years, but the second income is more important now than ever, she said.
"I own my own home and I have to pay a mortgage. I also started a doctorate program and I have to pay for that myself," Dries said.
Greg Howard, 22, of Holmdel, Monmouth County, is an acting lieutenant for the Beach Patrol on the Beach Haven Crest section of the township's beaches. This will be Howard's seventh year of lifeguarding. But the job market is tough and Howard, a recent college graduate, will be out of work in September.
"I graduated from James Madison University and majored in finance. James Madison is ranked in the top 1 percent of business schools. I can't find a job," Howard said. "I had an internship last year with a commercial bank, but they stopped hiring full-time."
Howard said he is interviewing for positions in the insurance and government sectors while holding out hope that things will turn around.
Meanwhile, most of the money Howard makes this summer will go to pay for health insurance: $450 per month, he said.
"This will be a steady paycheck for three months - six days a week for 40 hours. The pay (for) lifeguarding is pretty good, but won't be getting the benefits I would at a 9-to-5 desk job," he said.
E-mail Donna Weaver:
Posted in Ocean on Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:15 am Updated: 6:00 am.
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