After two days of tests that began on Saturday morning (June 13) and included an ocean swim, a half-mile run, a short surf dash, a 150-yard row in the bay and an interview, 24 men and three women were selected from a field of more than 50 applicants for the 2015 Ocean City Beach Patrol rookie class.
OCBP hiring is competitive and based on the two-day tryout. The run is not scored in the final rankings, but all applicants must meet a cutoff time.
The flag for the out-and-back swim course was set much farther out to sea than in other years, and made for a grueling test for the applicants.
Quinn Cassidy finished first in the swim in about 28 minutes, more than two minutes ahead of the next finisher.
Cassidy is son of Ocean City Beach Patrol Hall-of-Famer Sid Cassidy, who won the South Jersey Lifeguard Championship swim in 1977 and 1978. He swims for the University of Florida.
Congratulations to the 2015 OCBP rookies (in alphabetical order):
- Quinn Cassidy
- Frank Christy
- Matthew Crawford
- Tigue Devine
- Brad Donohue
- Andrew Duff
- Joe Furze
- Jake Graziotto
- Ryan Greer
- Ryan King
- Patrick Kistler
- Derek Kneisel
- Christopher Kowal
- Madeline McCabe
- Brian McGroarty
- David Millar
- Ryan Mitchell
- Tres Ostien
- Jared Schiavone
- Jason Schiavone
- William Stahl
- Kyle Stanley
- Noel Styer
- Shanin Theiss
- Brandon Truong
- Drew Winkler
- Hannah Wray
