Sussex lifeguards win national championship

Lifeguards from Sussex County’s beach patrols teamed up to win the United State Lifesaving Association’s National Lifeguard Championships, held Aug. 6-9, at Huntington State Beach in California. It’s the second straight year Sussex County has claimed the national championship. 

The Sussex County Lifesaving Association collected 1,309.496 points to defeat the California State Lifeguard Association (1,279.999), LA County Surf Life Saving Association (993.497) and 30 other groups from across the country to claim the Howard Lee National Championship Trophy. 

“This is an amazing accomplishment,” said Matt Farlow, president of SCLA. “Winning the national championship for the second year in a row is a testament to the hard work, dedication and teamwork of our athletes. To do it in California, against some of the most elite competition in the country, is unprecedented.”

Open women’s competition 

Elizabeth Fry was Sussex County’s highest point scorer with 61.625 points. She was seventh in the country. Sophia Gulotti (53.625), Ashyln Roselle (42.75) and Amy Venables (40.625) also cracked the top 20 in the open women’s competition. 

Fry finished fourth in the run-swim-run, fifth in the board rescue race, sixth in the surf race, eighth in the ironwoman and 12th in the board race.

“Delaware struck gold in California. We let them know that we are the First State,” said Fry.

Sussex County dominated the beach flags event, taking the top four spots. Gulotti took first overall, while Roselle, Lainey Shockro and Venables took second through fourth, respectively. Sussex County’s Jessica Tyndall, Caitlin Smith and Lulu Rishko also took 10th through 12th, respectively, while Zoe Williams finished 14th. 

Sussex County took four of the top five spots in the 4-by-100 relay. Taking first was the team of Venables, Hailey Moore, Helena Nester and Tyndall. Finishing second were Roselle, Shockro, Gulotti and Williams. Securing fourth was the team of Ashling Marshall, Avary Miller, Caitlin St. Leger and Rishko. Rounding out the top five were Bella Scharp, Smith, Hadley Rhue and Shannon Connelly. 

Sussex County finished third and fourth in the landline rescue race. Taking third were Venables, Elizabeth Perry, Moore and Mackenzie Gorman. In fourth were Scharp, Smith, Jensen Ritter and Morgan Glass.

Sussex County earned the top four spots and 10 of the top 13 spots in the 90-meter sprint. Sweeping the top four were Tyndall, Roselle, Gulotti and Moore, respectively. Venables finished sixth, while Marshall was ninth, Nester and Shockro tied for 11th, and Smith and Williams tied for 13th. 

In the 2K beach run, Maura Lenhart finished second, while Shannon Connelly was seventh, Rhue was 11th, Miller was 12th, Scharp was 14th and Madelynn McTeer was 16th. 

Glass took seventh in the run-swim-run. 

Elizabeth Brennan finished 10th in the ironwoman. 

The team of Brennan, Shockro, Rowan O’Donoghue and Gulotti earned a third-place finish in the rescue race. The team of Scharp, Caitlin Smith, Danielle Stewart and Glass took eighth in the rescue race. 

The team of Brennan, Fry, Glass and Gulotti finished fifth in the Taplin relay. 

Open men’s competition 

On the men’s side, Coleman Woodard scored the most individual points for Sussex with 45.250. Also earning top-20 finishes were Konner Knarr (42), Landon Sengphachanh (39.5) and Isiah Brittingham (38.125). 

“The surf was huge and nothing like we have competed in locally this summer, but we knew what we had to do and we delivered the goods,” said Woodard.

C.J. Fritchman won the men’s beach flags event for the third straight year. Sussex County dominated the event, as the squad claimed 12 of the top 16 spots. Brittiingham and Knarr finished second and third, respectively, while Sengphachanh was sixth, and Dillon McKay, Shane Hall, Ryan Smith, Hunter Jones, Henry Stenta and Wilson Ingerski finished eighth through 13th. Tyler Blandin and Mack Leonhartt took 15th and 16th. 

Sussex County also dominated the 90-meter sprint. Knarr won the title, with Kolbe Green, Jones, Sengphachanh, Brittingham and Liam Regan finishing second through sixth, respectively. McKay earned 11th place, while Alexander Arnold and Brendan Regan tied for 13th. 

Sussex County earned the top four spots in the 4-by-100 relay. The team of Fritchman, Jones, Green and Lawson Whaley took the title. They were followed by Arnold, Brendan Regan, McKay and Liam Regan. Taking third place were Brittingham, Knarr, Sengphachanh and Shane Hall. Fourth place went to Austin Rhue, Kyle Green, Leonhartt and Ingerski. 

Woodward finished third in the ironman. He also teamed with Josh McIntire to finish sixth in the board rescue race. 

Henry Stenta and Declan Burke finished second and third, respectively, in the 2K beach run, while Michael Anderson took seventh, Augie Carlozzi and Drew Barthelmess finished ninth and 10th, and Alex Breschi and Mark Datillio took 13th and 14th.

Corbin Mervine earned sixth in the surf ski race. 

Duncan Proxmire took seventh in the run-swim-run, while Nate Pittroff finished 11th and Brady Wolf took 15th. 

Marin Valkanov finished eighth in the surf race. 

Shane Hall earned a ninth-place finish in the board race. 

In the landline rescue race, the team of Alexander Moore, Carlozzi, Eddie Nace and Pittroff took third place. 

Sussex County took fourth place in the Taplin relay with the team of Woodard, Proxmire, Sengphachanh and Zachary Beckett. 

In the men’s rescue race, Brady Wolf, Brendan Regan, Liam Regan and Quinn Macauley finished seventh.

The team of Bailey Noel, Woodard and McIntire earned an eighth-place finish in the board relay. 

Age-group results

In the U19 competition, Kolbe Green and Kyle Green finished 1-2 in the beach flags event. They’ve each been invited to compete at the world championships in Australia in November. 

Kolbe Green also won the beach sprint, with Lawson Whaley and Kyle Green finishing just behind in second and third place, respectively. Corbin Mervine was seventh in the event. 

Mervine was part of a team from Jones Beach, N.Y., and Santa Cruz, Calif., to take second in the rescue race. He also finished fourth in the surf ski event and fifth in the ironman, distance run and board rescue events. 

In the 30-34 age group, Josh Remaniak won the run-swim-run and ironman events, and finished second in the surf ski race, third in the surf race, fourth in the 2K beach run and seventh in the board race. Ryan Smith won the 2K beach run and beach flags, and took third in the run-swim-run. Steven Hagen, winner of beach flags in 2023 and 2024, finished second this year. Joshua Strine and Hagen finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the age group’s 2K beach run. 

In the 35-39 division, Noel won the surf race, the run-swim-run and ironman, and finished second in the board race. 

In the 45-49 age group, Todd Roselle won beach flags and earned a fourth-place finish. 

In the 50-54 group, John Rykaczewski won beach flags. Jason McKay earned second in the board race and 2K beach run, third in beach flags and fourth in the run-swim-run. 

In the 55-59 category, Derek Shockro took second in beach flags. 

In the 60-64 division, David Griffith took runner-up finishes in the run-swim-run, board race and ironman, as well as third in the surf ski race and fifth in beach flags.