By Lesley Graham
The Ocean City Beach Patrol scored points in every event Friday evening at the Atlantic City Classic to secure a second place team finish overall. Longport, the defending South Jersey champions, won three out of the four events to take the team title, while host Atlantic City placed third.
The Atlantic City Classic consists of four events: a doubles row, swim, singles row and the newest addition, the rescue relay.
Ocean City placed fourth in the doubles row. Ocean City’s Matt Garbutt and Paul Boardman have been fine-tuning their technique over the past couple of months to blend together their styles and strengths when it comes to the rowing event. Garbutt, a lieutenant on the patrol, has a storied history of rowing excellence.
“I first raced out of town in 1996 – 23 years ago,” Garbutt recalled.
When asked what keeps him coming back all these years later to race on Friday nights, Garbutt explained: “There isn’t much you can still do at 43 that you could do at 20, and I take a lot of pride in my ability to do just that.”
In the swim, Frankie Brady, a seventh-year Ocean City lifeguard who sits on Waverly surfing beach, battled to a second place finish. Brady said the ocean conditions played into his favor in the swim.
“I definitely enjoy ocean swimming more than pool swimming, because the waves definitely help me,” he said. “My expertise is in wave riding, and I caught a wave at the end to help propel me into second place.”
The third event was the singles row. Ocean City’s Kevin Perry got off to a quick start and rowed a good course to secure a second place finish. With the ocean churning out some swells on the evening, Perry was able to catch a wave, passing a few other South Jersey competitors on his way to second.
The final event of the evening was the rescue relay. A relatively new addition to the Atlantic City Classic, the event is a sprint doubles row with one rower unclipping a rescue bag at a flag in the ocean, hauling it into the boat, rowing back in and then jumping out with the bag to sprint up the beach.
Brothers Brian and Shanin Theiss took second place in the event, helping to keep Ocean City in the top three for the team finish. The Theiss brothers have combined for over 30 years of competing for not only the Ocean City Beach Patrol but also squads in San Diego and Florida.
The desire to win is what keeps them coming back year after year. “We are very competitive. It’s in our blood,” Shanin Theiss said in a post-race interview.
That competitive spirit runs deep through all the competitors for the Ocean City Beach Patrol, who will continue to train to prepare for the next set of races, representing their patrol with pride.
RACE RESULTS:
Doubles Row:
1st – Longport
2nd – Upper Township
3rd – Atlantic City
4th – Ocean City (Paul Boardman and Matt Garbutt)
5th – Wildwood Crest
Swim:
1st – Longport
2nd – Ocean City (Frank Brady)
3rd – Wildwood Crest
4th – Atlantic City
5th – Brigantine
Singles Row:
1st – Atlantic City
2nd – Ocean City (Kevin Perry)
3rd – Avalon
4th – Brigantine
5th – Longport
Doubles Row Sprint Rescue:
1st – Longport
2nd – Ocean City (Bryan and Shanin Theiss)
3rd – Atlantic City
4th – Ventnor
5th – Brigantine
Overall Standings:
1st – Longport (16 points)
2nd – Ocean City (14 points)
3rd – Atlantic City (13 points)
4th – Upper Township (4 points – tiebreaker)
5th – Wildwood Crest (4 points)
