By Gary Curreri

The Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard program once again proved its supremacy on the sand.

The program finished second in the state and then had several standout performers at the 2018 United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) National Championships at Virginia Beach.

The team prepared for the national event by competing in the USLA Regional competition in Flagler Beach and nearly two dozen junior lifeguards made the trip to Virginia, which featured about 400 competitors from around the country.

Pompano claimed nine national championships and also earned a plethora of silver and bronze medals. Among the locals claiming national titles were Isabella Taylor, who successfully defended her Ironguard and Paddleboard national championships and added the Surf Swim Race championship to her resume.

Raphael Santos captured national titles in the Run-Swim-Run and the Surf Swim distance race.

Summer Schulte won a gold medal in the Run-Swim-Run event, while Grace Parnas won gold in the Board Race, and teammate Reese Andres won national championships in the C Division for the Ironguard and the Board race.

At the state competition, Santos, 15, led a 1-2-3 sweep for Pompano in the ocean swim event. He’s competed for the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard program for the past four years.

“I just started liking it a lot more,” said Santos, a sophomore at Pompano Beach High School. “It has helped me with ocean swimming in general. I swim in the pool, and in the ocean, it is like two different things. When I go to the junior lifeguard training, it is like a whole different environment and it is like better off.”

Santos said he likes to compete but added learning about the ocean is also a nice add on for the summer program.

“It is pretty interesting,” said Santos, who finished sixth at state last year in both of his events — 200 IM and 500-free during the high school season. “You can be swimming in a pool, but in the ocean, you can be swimming out and the next thing you know you are drifting past the buoy. You have to know how to swim towards the current a little bit to keep straight swimming. There are no lane lines out here or flags.”

Pompano Beach’s Alex Marquez, 16, was runner-up to Santos in the swim event. He is also a teammate of Santos’ at Pompano Beach High School where he is a junior. He’s been with the Pompano Beach Junior lifeguard program since he was nine. Marquez placed third in Ironguard at Nationals.

“I am a swimmer originally, so I like anything with swimming in it,” Marquez said. “This has helped me a lot, especially with discipline. It felt really good to sweep the event. It is nice to know when you are ahead. The top 10 people here are all on the same team, even though we might be on different teams at the swimming pool. It was kind of fun to swim against them. It is bragging rights for sure.”

Trio wins scramble golf event

Joel Englander, Bill O’Brien and Willie Smith took top honors with a 68 after a match of cards to win the three-man scramble for the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association at the Pines Course at Pompano Beach Municipal Golf Club.

Finishing second was Chuck Brown, Jim Foster, and Dave Dowling, also with a 68. They shot 36 on the back nine while the winning group carded a 34 for the back nine in the August 28th tournament. George Disch, Lee Hammer and Bart Valerio finished in third with a team total of 69.

Dennis Sejda struck his tee shot within 7-ft., 7 in. on the 15th hole to win Closest to the Pin honors.

By Gary Curreri

With the start of school this week in Broward County, that generally signals the end of the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard program for the summer.

The Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguards recently closed out the year by competing in the regional competition in Delray Beach; state competition in Ft. Lauderdale and about 35 competitors and coaches that went to the 2017 USLA Nationals Championship in Daytona Beach.

“This year, we had a very strong group of competitors representing Team Pompano not only in depth, but also in attitude,” said Nemia Schulte, president of the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Association. “We also have quite a few of our competitors in the U-19 Division vying for a spot on the Youth Team USA to represent the United States at the 2017 Worlds Competition in New Zealand in a couple of months.”

Team Pompano also held its end-of-year team banquet on Aug. 4 at the Skolnick Center.

Pompano Beach’s Christian Quinones was one of the program’s standout competitors this summer as he won the Boys Rescue Board Race and the Beach Flags competition in the Boys B Division at the James P. “Mac” McCarthy Memorial Regional Lifesaving Championships in Delray Beach. More than 200 competitors from around the state turned out for the competition in Delray.

“I like the program because it is fun,” said Quinones, 13, of Pompano Beach, who is an 8th grader at Pompano Beach Middle. “It gets your adrenaline going. It is fun competing against your friends and at other beaches.”

“I have made a lot of friends over the years,” he added. “It is really hard to compete against them every year. As you get older, the competition gets tougher.”

Jo Wagenhals, an Ocean Rescue Captain/EMT for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue, served as master of ceremonies for the regionals. She is also the treasurer for the United States Lifesaving Association’s Southeast Region.

“This program teaches team building, obviously athleticism, about the environment, safety,” Wagenhals said. “Flagler County is one county that brings in non-swimmers, kids who have never swam before, so they just get kids comfortable in the water, which is a huge step.”

Pompano Beach’s Gwen Bencie, 16, of the Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue Junior Lifeguards program, won three individual events in the Girls 19-Under Division – Distance Swim, Rescue Board Race and the Surfski.

Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Mattheus Santos, 16, of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, took first place in the Distance Swim; Run Swim Run, and was also a member of the winning Surf Rescue Relay.

Other local female winners at regionals included: Junior Ironguard: Girls A: Isabella Taylor, Pompano. Girls C: Reese Andres, Pompano. Distance Swim: Girls A: Isabella Taylor. Girls C: Reese Andres, Pompano. Rescue Board Race: Girls A: Summer Schulte, Pompano. Girls C: Reese Andres. Beach Flags: Girls A: Victoria Scarpinito, Pompano. Girls B: 2. Jennifer Johnson, Deerfield Beach. Run Swim Run: Girls 19-Under: Summer Schulte. Girls C: Reese Andres.

Other local male winners at regionals included: Junior Ironguard: Boys Under-19: Alejandro Quiones, Pompano. Boys A: Rafael Santos, Pompano. Distance Swim: Boys A: Rafael Santos. Rescue Board Race: Boys B: Christian Quinones, Pompano. Boys C: 2. Peter Roca, Hollywood. Beach Flags: Boys B: Christian Quinones. Boys C: 2. Yuri DeFranco, Deerfield Beach. Surf Rescue Relay Race: Boys 19-Under: Ronald Haehe, Mattheus Santos, Pompano; Boys A: Alex Marquez, Rafael Santos, Pompano. Run Swim Run: Boys 19-Under: Mattheus Santos. Boys A: Rafael Santos.