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On vigilant watch. On guard. On the stand. On their toes.
That is the job for a Sea Colony Beach Patrol lifeguard from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. through June 14 and from Sept. 3 through Oct. 14, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from June 15 through Sept. 2.
While virtually everyone else around them on the beach is cavorting, reading, sleeping, talking or just taking in the magical salt air, the Guardians by the Sea are ready to spring into action.
Even while being cordial to those who approach the lifeguard stand, they are always on alert. Their eyes remain on the swimmers in the surf even while they are sipping and chewing for sustenance during the long beach day.
Someone’s life may be in danger.
And they are the ones who have the ability to rescue swimmers in need.
The Coastal Point is once again spotlighting one of these Guardians by the Sea with a beach lifeguard feature story each week during the season.
His first rescue was a memorable one
It happened right in front of his stand.
A father and his son were rapidly being pulled into deeper waters by a potentially deadly rip current, a strong and narrow current of water that victimizes swimmers who panic or have limited water skills.
Lifeguard Sam Peterson, who had just joined the Sea Colony Beach Patrol, had yet to make a rescue in early July of 2023.
“My partner, Anderson Buck, and I made a run for both of them, and pulled them to shore,” recalled Peterson. “A few hours after the rescue and just before closing for the day, a lady asked me if I’d made any rescues that day. To my surprise, she was the mother of the child whom we’d pulled from the water. She was delivering a bag of cookies and a handwritten note to the patrol.
“That was the best feeling ever, knowing I had not only saved someone’s life, but that they were so appreciative of our work on the patrol,” added Peterson.
Sea Colony Beach Patrol
The Sea Colony Beach Patrol oversees half a mile of private beach daily from the weekend before Memorial Day to Columbus Day in October. The SCBP is a United States Lifeguard Association Advanced Certified Agency consisting of 21 guards, who are each certified in American Red Cross Lifeguarding, CPR for the Professional Rescuer and Emergency Medical Response. Each of the six lifeguard stands are located in front of the Sea Colony high-rise condominiums near Bethany Beach.
SCBP lifeguards respond to land and water emergencies, and they provide information and education about hazards in the sun, weather and ocean. SCBP beach lifeguards train daily to prepare for any situation on land or in water, and they constantly strive to exceed their high standards of open-water safety.
‘You can’t just sit and wait…’
For Peterson, being a lifeguard means one must anticipate when an emergency is occurring.
“You can’t just sit and wait for people to ask you for help,” he said. “You have to be able to locate who is in trouble and help them. I’ve always been a bit of an indecisive person, but being a lifeguard doesn’t allow for that. If something seems wrong, you just have to go in. When days get boring or seem slow, I remind myself that people are depending on my focus and attention to enable me to determine that something’s wrong, and to respond accordingly.”
Peterson said he considers staying in shape the easiest part of being a lifeguard.
“You effectively get paid to work out with a bunch of highly motivated people, so we all end up pushing each other to improve,” he said. “In addition, the lifeguard competitions really give you something to look forward to, with regard to your training.
“The toughest part of the job is the technical knowledge you need to learn,” added the 6-foot-3 native of Fairfax, Va. “You have to stay fluent in semaphore, memorize emergency medical protocols and understand a multitude of additional technical knowledge.”
Peterson said he became a lifeguard after moving from suburban Kansas City, Mo., to Delaware.
“I was looking for a way to make some friends while staying in shape,” said the resident of Frankford. “Being a lifeguard is a very fulfilling job that teaches you many ways to help other people.”
Peterson is currently studying engineering and Spanish at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa. He intends to apply the discipline and practical skills he is learning as a lifeguard to his studies and professional career.
He noted that he’s met a lot of wonderful individuals as a lifeguard.
“The biggest impact is the sense of community I’ve felt from my lifeguard colleagues,” he said. “I’d say our captain, David Griffith, the ‘G-Man,’ is a legendary role model for all of the SCBP lifeguards.”
Article by Mike Stern, Coastal Point, July 11, 2024
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