The ocean is a scary, scary, dangerous place.

The deal is you risk a lot to save a lot.

The ocean The source of life on Earth abundant with vitality and power, capable of unparalleled grandeur and unimaginable catastrophe.

Unforgiving.

Unrelenting.

Unpredictable.

It is on these shores.

Brave men and women stand watch.

They are responders, protectors.

They are lifeguards.

But on this day, they are rivals.

On this day.

The ocean is the battlefield.

Just to be here and exist.

On this rock.

Hurtling through infinity right now.

And you know what are the chances that we could go for a seventh, potentially record breaking title?

The rock, Earth.

the title, the Long Beach Island Lifeguard Tournament.

The leader, Randy Townsend, professional surfer and chief of the Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol.

The island races this year.

It is the 60th anniversary.

It's a culmination of all of our groups and agencies here on long Beach Island, competing against each other to showcase their talents and their skill sets that they've honed in over the course of the summer, training for the island races and the physical fitness aspect of it all goes hand in hand with, you know, how we score points as lifeguards, especially as it pertains to ocean lifesaving?

You definitely have to be an athlete.

You have to be more aware of your surroundings, especially the ever changing environment that we work in.

There are many ways the ocean can kill you rip currents, undertow, shore breaks.

Whirlpools.

Rogue wave.

Algae.

Bacteria.

Lightning.

Dehydration.

Sand collapse.

Debris.

Rocks.

Pirates, killer whales, sharks, jellyfish, eels, venomous sea life, capsized boat, whatever the $&#!

this thing is.

And probably Cthulu.

And drowning.

Truly, one of the most dangerous things about the ocean is the people's lack of knowledge.

How dangerous the ocean can be.

Drownings are the leading cause of death, and especially in young children.

And when you look at the beachfront area, it just magnifies it that much more because of the varying conditions that happen.

You have to be ready at all times.

You have to train.

You have to stay in shape.

Don't get ready.

Be ready.

It's inherently a very important and serious profession because at the root of it.

Our job is to protect lives.

Jenna Parker, veteran lifeguard, mentor, Iron Woman I spent ten years as a professional triathlete, so I spent basically my entire 20s racing around the world.

The races are a way for each patrol to showcase the best that they have.

It's bragging rights.

It's kind of like we are the patrol that has worked the hardest.

We understand the ocean the best.

We have worked hard at paddling.

We've worked hard in swimming.

We've learned how to row.

And there's sort of a pride in this.

And I think each town in each patrol feels that when you're out there and you're essentially on the front lines, right, day in and day out, it's a family and you go to battle for your family.

Let's meet some of the family.

It's war.

The races are.

It's war.

It's competition between each other.

It's basic hunter gatherer.

You know the strong survive.

The strong win.

I think our girls are a lot stronger than the guys.

We definitely are a lot smarter than them.

We say crazy stuff in the boat during competitions.

Don't take anything personal.

I started competing last year.

And then I got hungry for more throughout the winter and wanted to come back and compete and try to win it.

I have a duty to train.

To, be the best lifeguard I possibly can and to show up ready to roll and dedicate myself to doing the best I can.

Like, I love hunting people down.

Like, that's my favorite.

So, like, if they're close, like, and it's me or you, like, it's going to be me.

I think when you're up there every day, you understand that the ocean is dangerous and it comes with its own risks.

But I also think that uniquely as a lifeguard, you have the ability to help others and be a first responder.

You know, it's a huge responsibility.

It takes a special kind of individual.

And I'm glad, you know.

Absolutely tickled that we're surrounded by so many exceptional individuals.

It's this family.

It's this team.

It's us working together to be better than we were yesterday.

And to to hope that that legacy will continue, like, long after our time.

I want to see the younger generation step up.

I just turned 17 a couple days ago.

It's my first year lifeguarding for the Harvesters Beach Patrol.

Loving every step of it.

Shamus.

Moose carry.

Surfing prodigy.

First year lifeguard.

Teenager.

This upcoming race to the islands, I'm going to be doing the men's paddle relay alongside three of my other best friends and fellow lifeguards.

Then we did a race off and I got the opportunity to race in the men's 1500, which is the most prestigious paddling event at Islands this year.

Have you seen this one for the past six years But I know Barnegat Lights, surf city, Shipbottom, long beach township They're all really looking to take that title away from us.

We've been training hard, being on the beach patrol here, surrounded by all these professional lifesavers.

Has opened my eyes a lot more.

Everyone has their place on the beach patrol here, and as long as you work hard and show the higher ups that you can handle responsibility, you'll fit right in.

So for me, I want to make sure I give my best effort.

I know exactly what I have to do, I to go out there and perform.

A Brief history of the lifeguard tournament.

For over a century, the guards who protect our beaches have competed against one another in feats of skill, strength and endurance.

This is a great athletic competition.

We need to show the public what their lifeguard does on his or her beach, each and every day.

Why?

They're out there on a paddle board, why they're out there rowing, why they're swimming, why they're running.

Staying in shape so they can make the rescue.

The oldest formal competition in the United States, the South Jersey Lifeguard Championships, was held just outside Atlantic City in 1924, and from Melbourne to Malibu to Manasquan, lifeguard tournaments are an important tradition of the profession.

You know, if you're a victim in trouble, you don't want someone coming after you who's going to end up being a victim themselves.

So by competing, you know, we make sure that we're in top physical form.

The United States Lifesaving Association, which is the national organization for professional lifeguarding in the United States, has tournaments across the country.

You are competing against time to utilize your skills, your abilities to go make that rescue and save that person.

And it's good, friendly competition.

But again, it all boils back to what you need to do to be a successful ocean lifeguard, which is utilize the skills that you're taught to save a life.

One of the most prestigious and unique lifesaving competitions in the world is held each year on Long Beach Island in New Jersey.

This two day, 19 event race is truly one of a kind 19 events.

It's insane.

It's usually 6 or 7 events on the off island tournament.

That's it.

Talk about, you know, having to have it together from A to Z and little or no mistakes in between to be the champion.

That's a lot.

The race course extends 500ft from shore.

That's about five blue whales.

The races featured the disciplines of rowing, swimming, paddling and running, with categories for men, women and mixed teams.

Points are awarded for first through sixth place and medals earned for bronze, silver and gold.

(pirate sound) As Harvey Cedars stands on the precipice of history.

Five squads stand in their way.

The most dangerous of which is Coe, record holder and host of this year's competition.

Barnegat light.

Barnegat light is the only other town that holds six consecutive championships.

And that was, you know, done right prior to us completing the six this past year.

No one's ever won seven in a row.

So we are sitting on this incredible opportunity to be the first ever.

You have 2 or 3 patrols that are really at the top of the game, and they're vying for that championship.

The rivalries just naturally come out because it's everybody all in.

They're all trying to go for one thing, and that's that trophy, that's that championship.

And being the king of Long Beach Island.

Yeah, the heads butt.

You know, the teeth come out and its...its been fierce.

Harvey Cedars was going for number seven Barnegat light was there It was their place.

I mean, listen, when you're on your home turf, you don't want to lose.

It was going to be an absolute battle to the finish.

The 60th annual Long Beach Island Lifeguard Tournament.

19 events.

Six patrols.

Two days, one champion.

Ultimately, a lot of these races are decided by the ocean.

Sometimes the ocean gives you the win.

Sometimes it takes it away.

If you're in this game long enough, it consistently proves that.

Let the battle begin (cheering) Harvey Cedars started strong grabbing medals in the first three events.

But Barnegat Light would command the back to back golds and the early lead in the tournament.

It was time for the next generation to step up.

You just kind of feel it in the boat.

It's exciting.

Everyone is ready to go.

Going on, it's pretty crazy, honestly.

It can get a little scary sometimes.

The ocean just tells us what's going to happen at the end.

And the ocean is full of surprises.

(cheering) That's second That's got to be second Harvey Cedars rode their way to a silver medal to move the squad into second place.

Barnegat light was not backing down on their home surf.

A third straight gold put them up seven and ready to blow the competition wide open.

With the Surf Boat rescue up next.

The pressure fell squarely on the broad shoulders of a champion oarsmen.

I'm Don Adams.

I'm just a regular bench lifeguard here at Harvey Cedars.

I'm a teacher in the offseason, a middle school, seventh, eighth grade down in Galloway Township.

This is not an all year round job.

Annual season starts Memorial Day weekend that Friday, and we run all the way till September 30th.

It's not a very large crew, especially postseason is a lot of people are returning to their full time jobs.

The racing keeps you involved, and makes you come back.

If there wasn't the physical aspect of staying in shape and racing and competing, then I don't think you'd see a lot of guys like me back because it's just it's financially, it makes no sense.

Yeah.

If people have come back every year that help mentor these younger guards and keep an eye on what's going on, then make sure that the life isn't lost, that make sure the decision made is the right decision.

It's important to have those people come back every year because you have a safe beach.

Competition just breeds work ethic.

It gets us to work harder and train, and it keeps us up really to focus on and train for.

It just gives me motivation to come back for the summer, kind of just show off what you can do and see who's, who's got bragging rights for that year.

Don Adams, middle school teacher, and Ryan Corcoran, software engineer, won the bragging rights.

And Harvey Cedars, their first gold of the competition.

With Barnegat Light holding a slim lead and Surf City closing in.

It was time for the Ironman, a race made up of a punishing combination of run, swim, paddle and row.

A race usually reserved for the squad's top athlete.

A race, Chief Randy Townsend, did not expect to enter.

I really wasn't, you know, prepared to actually do the Ironman this year, but that was a roster change that happened the Wednesday before island races.

Boys threw that one on me, and I'm just honored to be able to compete at that level at the primary age of 43 here with this beautiful, grey beard at this point against, you know, young men and women who are in much better physical fitness than me and are much hungrier than I am at this point in stage in my career.

Oh my gosh.

You know, when you have the opportunity to not only compete but lead from the front.

And that's something I've always really enjoyed as being a leader who leads from the front.

I think it's more or less, you know, rising to the occasion, challenging yourself.

And that's the draw here because there's a lot of challenges day to day.

You got to be responsible not only for yourself showing up every day.

You have to be responsible for the thousands of people that we cater to up on the beach as it pertains to public safety on a daily basis.

You got two choices in this world.

You can sit in the trenches and watch the boats fly over, or you can jump out, go for a piece of the glory and run towards that gunfire with the last ounce of energy that you have left in the tank.

Chief Townsend and his beautiful grey beard emptied out the tank for a second place finish, giving Harvey Cedars a sixth straight medal and a tie with Barnegat Light for the lead.

The momentum was shifting, as were the skies.

As dark clouds began to form in the north, Seamus Moose Carey was ready for his highly anticipated debut race.

A lot of people were really excited.

Some people were really, really nervous.

Myself, I was more excited for the opportunity, you know, getting to race rookie year and island's is pretty big.

So I was very happy.

But at the same time, I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything wrong.

Leading up to the event, we were training twice a day, two hours a day for over a month leading up to it, myself and the other members of the paddle relay team, we are practicing our transitions weeks prior.

Make sure we went smooth, made sure we won.

Despite the weeks of preparation, focus, and determination, Moose and Family finished a disappointing fourth place, creating a traffic jam atop the leaderboard heading into the final day of competition.

I definitely wish that we had won.

I want to give us that little boost of confidence going in the day two.

Myself, I was not too pleased, Im very very competitive.

And I don't like losing.

Born from the sea.

We all be.

Emerged from out the black with watchful eye.

We protect.

You see.

Your mother wants you back.

The deal is you risk a lot to save a lot.

Getting to the victim and back.

That's all of this.

I got to see if I can do more.

See if I can train harder, come back faster.

Just be out there holding people.

That's all its about, honestly.

People look at us as their saviors and protectors.

And like, this thing is like a humbling experience.

Harvey Cedars scored a bronze medal for their efforts in the Line Bowl, but a one-two finish from Barnegat Light and Surf City drop the squad into third place.

Next up, well, an Iron Woman's work is never done.

We can be the first patrol on this island to win seven in a row.

I don't know if it happened this year, but I think it's a true testament to our patrol that we are chasing, that we've elevated ourselves, and we're striving to be the best lifeguards and the best humans that we can be.

And there's a sense of deep belonging, especially in the fact that our patrol really is a family.

I really enjoy watching the next generation get really excited about what we've built here.

I truly enjoy watching them get all rowdy and crazy and you know, they're bleeding green right there.

They are part of this.

It is something that they are going to carry with them for the rest of their lives.

So for me, watching that excitement almost means more than any of the personal stuff.

I don't know what next year's going to bring.

I don't know if I'll be back.

I don't, you know, I came back to win one.

We have won a lot more than one at this point.

So at a certain point, you know, there will be the time that I have to walk away.

You know, I don't take it for granted at all.

And every one of these wins has been special.

Every one of these races is special to me...

I am green, I am Harvey Cedars.

It's family pride.

That is your home.

That is your family.

And you will go to war for them.

The Iron Woman struck gold once again, pushing Harvey Cedars into a first place tie with Surf City, with Barnegat Light nipping at their heels.

But the battle was far from over.

Time out Time!

Were not ready!

(yelling) The races are similar to war or survival.

You don't want your friends clapping for you going, “You're doing a good job” when you're not doing a good job.

I don't personally, I don't succeed that way.

I never have.

A fourth place finish in the doubles row dropped Harvey Cedars off the podium and out of first place.

You know the ocean does what it does.

When it was done, I was like, all right, if I aged out, I'm okay with aging out now, I, have 15 wins on that trophy.

15 years I've been part of the winning team.

Did what I was meant to do here.

Let the kids take over.

The kids took over the beach for the thousand foot, swim with a pair of college students ready to represent Jack Maketa took the men's gold medal, inching Cedars closer to the lead and continuing a proud family legacy.

My dad was a lifeguard in Harvey Cedars, when he was in college.

And then his mom.

So my grandma was, a lifeguard as well.

That's grand mom right there.

1951.

Guarding for Harvey Cedars Yeah.

First female on the island.

Lifeguard.

Don't underestimate people.

You don't know what they're capable of.

You know, like you don't know what I'm about to do.

It had been just over a year after a dangerous rescue of three swimmers nearly cost Megan Misurelli her future.

I made two rescues on my way out and then the top of my dominant hand was amputated.

During the rescue.

I was able to bring everybody in, and, they were all okay.

In August of that year, I couldn't hold a pencil.

I really had no movement at all in that hand.

I didn't know if I was going to be able to go back to college.

I didn't know if I was going to come back.

It was something that like, I wasn't sure of.

So then when it came time around, I was like, you know what?

I love lifeguarding.

Like, it's something that makes me feel alive and I don't want to-- I don't want fear to paralyze me in a moment that it doesn't deserve to.

I didn't want my story to be like, she got hurt, like I wanted my story to be What happened after that?

Coming back to lifeguarding, that was me moving forward every day, because every day I went back up to the beach and every day I faced like, what was like a fear for me.

Every day that I'm up there, like I move forward.

And that's the goal.

Life, right?

When it came time to race for Harvey Cedars, like I wanted to show up like it was meant come back year.

So that's what I did.

Misurelli showed up with a silver medal performance, making the comeback complete and earning Harvey Cedars their first solo lead of the tournament.

Chief Townsend continued his dominance of the paddle board events.

The squad continued to rack up the medals, scoring in the top three in the next three events.

But Barnegat Light refused to yield Back to back golds had them within 5 points of the lead with just three races to go, including the most chaotic of them all, the Surf Boat Relay.

I cringe at that surf boat relay because, you know, it's absolute chaos.

Everybody knew the job that we had to do.

There wasnt a shadow of doubt in my mind that we were the team to beat that evening.

I guess it's something you have to prove to yourself you know?

Do you still have it?

Can you still get out there with the young guys and compete?

Gives you something to work for, to train for and, just to have that team camaraderie when you get to that tournament.

Don and I, this year, we're kind of contemplating not coming back or like... but once that spring rolls around, once that ocean temperature changes a little bit, you start forgetting that winter happens here and you get back into it.

I'm more able to reflect back now on how special it is to be a part of this and to be a lifeguard.

I don't know if you can put words to it.

It just it's like part of who you are.

It's a family.

The family locked down the squad's fifth goal of the tournament, bringing them one step closer to history.

(crowd cheers “Moose”) Yeah, I mean, I was definitely pretty nervous, you know, going into it.

I knew it definitely was going to come down to my race.

I needed to get first or second for us to win.

Third was not going to cut it.

Fourth is not going to cut it.

Once I hit the water, I knew that I was getting first or second, nothing else.

The young Moose charged his way to a silver medal, clinching the tournament victory for Harvey Cedars.

Yeah, it was probably the biggest relief in my entire life.

coming across, seeing my dad, my mom, my new training partners and some of my new best friends.

Randy has been a mentor to me since I was ten years old, was one of the more special moments in my life.

A record seventh straight Island Championship.

Let the celebration begin we really pulled it together in the end.

Gave it our all, showed everyone what we really are all about.

And I'm super, super proud of all of us and how far we've grown even from the beginning of the summer until now.

So that was pretty incredible to watch.

It's awesome, dude.

Like the fact that you come back seven years in a row and like--just put everything together like its awesome.

to make this happen consecutively year after year.

And the culture that we've had to build that it's lightning in a bottle.

There's a reason why they've won this.

Many of them.

Well, it's not a secret... chemistry, talent work ethic, dedication, commitment and all those things come into play.

Clearly, they've all bought into the philosophy.

They're just able to put it all together and be successful in their championships every year at their islands.

Harvey Cedars doing it every year for seven years over and over again.

It's just mind blowing.

It's the most amazing thing seeing my staff sprinting towards the water for our seventh Long Beach Island Lifeguard Championship title to be a part of something so special.

It's absolutely amazing.

The very next day, a boat capsized just off Long Beach Island.

A mother and daughter were trapped underneath and in danger of drowning.

With time running out, a Barnegat Light lifeguard attempted the critical rescue by diving under the boat.

He risked his life.

He saved theirs.

The deal is you risk a lot to save a lot.

Hi, I'm Bob, I'm your lifeguard today.

You're a lifeguard.

You're going in the water to rescue people.

It's never safety first.

Safety third.

There's training.

And there's faith in your abilities and faith in your training.

And then theres safety.

The fact that I trained these guys, and I knew that if something went wrong with my attempt at the rescue, that they would have my back really helped me.

You know, to be able to do that, all the skills that we need as lifesavers are translated into those races.

And yeah, in competition, there's always going to be some heated rivalries.

But when it comes down to it, we work together, we train together.

All of these things work to create veteran lifeguards because the ocean is a scary, scary, dangerous place.