Final 8 Teams Preparing for Round 5 Finals.
By Dale Braun
On Tuesday, July 18, 2017, Ocean City competed in the third annual Red Bull Surf and Rescue Races on the beach in front of Historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Previously, only beach patrols from New Jersey competed but this year beach patrols from Virginia through Long Island, NY descended upon our Jersey coast for this race.
2017 Red Bull Surf and Rescue Races in Atlantic City
In all, there were 50 teams and 200 competitors, with some like Ocean City and Brigantine sending as much as three teams to compete. Each team of four was co-ed and had to have at least one female member.
There were five rounds of relay type races involving various rowing, swimming, paddle board and running techniques. After each round, the top half of teams would move on to the next round.
2017 Red Bull 2nd Place Champs Frank Brady, Maggie Wallace, Brian Pasternak, and Bryan Theiss planning a strategy.
One of Ocean City's teams, Frank Brady, Maggie Wallace, Brian Pasternak and Bryan Theiss, won the third round which was the paddle board relays.
By the start of the fifth and final round, only eight teams remained, all from New Jersey, including all three Ocean City teams, two from Sea Girt (2015 1st place champions), and one each from Harvey Cedars, Ship Bottom, and Longport (2016 1st place champions).
Start of Round 4 Run Run and Row Relay Race.
In the end, after a swim, paddleboard and rowing relay, Longport successfully defended their 1st place championship title, narrowly defeating 2nd place Ocean City's Frank Brady, Maggie Wallace, Brian Pasternak and Bryan Theiss. Harvey Cedars came in third.
