THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507210532
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
After running two miles down the beach Thursday, 156 lifeguards from across the East Coast donned their flippers, plunged into the surf and wrestled past the waves to drag swimmers portraying drowning victims to a safe, sandy haven.
These arduous activities were part of the two-day 1995 South Atlantic Regional Lifeguard Championships held on the Outer Banks this week.
But for many lifeguards, the real-life scenarios are all in a day's work.
Bob Gabriel, owner of Lifeguard Beach Service Inc., organized the event to allow lifeguards from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to meet and demonstrate their skills.
``I want to show people that lifeguarding is a serious sport - it's a matter of life and death,'' Gabriel said, as tanned men and women splashed into the ocean carrying orange torpedo buoys for a rescue race.
``These are not a bunch of dummies who don't have any brains,'' Gabriel said. ``These are all intelligent, vibrant, sharp people who are very physically and mentally capable.''
Thursday's schedule was packed with non-stop intensive exercises from 8 a.m. until 6:15 p.m. Lifeguards competed in an 800-yard paddleboard race, a 400-yard swimming race and rescue board races. Some activities involved cross-training. Lifeguards ran 200 yards, swam 400 yards and ran two additional yards during one event.
The most difficult event, hands-down, was the Iron Man/Woman competition, where participants ran 150 yards, swam 150 yards into the ocean and back, paddled out and back on paddleboards and sprinted to a finish line on the beach.
``It's so hard because you are doing everything - running, paddling, swimming - you are using all your muscles,'' said Jennifer VanCulin, a 24-year-old lifeguard from Charleston, S.C.
Gabriel agreed. ``If you do that, you're body's going to feel like iron,'' he said. ``Each part of your body will be screaming.''
But as much as the championship was demanding, the lifeguards said it was fun.
``I'm stoked. It's been a killer time,'' said Eric Villeneuve, a 16-year-old lifeguard from Hanna Park Beach in Jacksonville, Fla. ``It was really cool to come here and meet people and watch them do their stuff.''
Villeneuve's fellow teammate, Joe Kinstle, 28, agreed.
``It's very challenging to put your talents up against some of the best lifeguards in the country,'' Kinstle said. ``There is a lot of good sportsmanship and camaraderie.''
Gabriel said he found it rewarding to watch the event that he planned for so long finally come to life. This is the first time the lifeguard competition has been held on the Outer Banks. More than 100 spectators lined the hot sand Thursday to watch the strenuous competition.
``This morning, during the two-mile run, these athletes just looked like antelopes - it was beautiful,'' Gabriel said. ``This gives youth something positive to look at. You see how much these young people care about the environment and for people's safety.
``They are not here for money or glory. They are here out of love.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Carolina Beach lifeguards Mark Donalson, left, Brent Hall and David
Hack rescue ``victim'' Tom Callanan Thursday in the 1995 South
Atlantic Regional Lifeguard Championships at Kill Devil Hills.
by CNB