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

Pompano Beach’s Shannon Snell has not only made her mark locally as a junior lifeguard – she has competed at the highest levels.

At the end of month, the 20-year-old Snell and 2016 graduate of Cardinal Gibbons High School will represent the USA Open Team in the upcoming International Surf Rescue Challenge in New Zealand from Nov. 30 — Dec. 4.

Snell has been an Ocean lifeguard since 2016 on both the east and west coast of the United States, and prior to that was a Pompano Beach Junior lifeguard since the age of 9. During that time, she was selected to represent the United States Youth National Team in France in 2014. She also travelled to Japan and Australia the following two years.

Based on her performance at the United States Lifeguarding Association Nationals in Daytona Beach this summer, Snell earned her fourth invitation to represent her country.

“When I was younger, I just did junior lifeguarding for fun, I didn’t think it would turn into a professional level,” said Snell, who is lifeguard for both the city of Ft Lauderdale Ocean Rescue and Miami Beach Ocean Rescue. “Back then it was a killer workout for the summer and now it is more mental, physical, more intense and more professional.”

“I am super honored with all of the opportunities it has opened up for me in the sport. I have gotten to travel the world and meet people that I am still friends with today. It is just something that I never experienced and never thought would be such a big part of my life.”

Snell, currently ranked seventh in the Nation for Open Women, is self-trained and does distance running, swimming, weight training, yoga, stretching and concentrates on her nutrition to be a top flight athlete.

She also works 10 hours a day as a first responder, Ocean Rescue. At the nationals in the summer, she competed in 10 events and had 40-plus races during a three-day span that featured more than 1,000 lifeguards. She was fifth in Beach Flags and earned her overall ranking based on individual points through prelims, semifinals and finals.

Competitions involve everything from sprinting out of the water in the sand to paddling in overhead surf pounding your body; to simulated surf rescue races involving more than one person to surfsking a ski threw heavy surf.

Pool events also take place at the World Championship every two years, apart from swimming and rescuing an unconscious person (simulated as a mannequin) you have to pull to safety.

“Looking back, I never pictured myself being where I am today,” Snell said. “With the help of my parents making sure I did the right things as far as training, I am very proud to be where I am and I couldn’t have done it without them helping me get through all of the tough obstacles.”

Snell said there are lifeguards who still compete at the age of 50. She sees herself doing this a couple of more years and then enlisting in the Coast Guard.

“It has become a very mental and physical challenge because now you know what is important and the sacrifices you have to make in order to compete at this level,” Snell said. “I just want to race my heart out and make some memorable friends and meet up with some old friends who are going from other countries. I just want to have a really good time because New Zealand is someplace that I have not been, so I want to explore and see how their culture is.”

Snell has set up a GoFundMe page to help defray the cost of the trip since the United States Lifeguard Association covers nothing. For more information, go to www.gofundme.com/shannonsnell.

Ranse Classic this weekend

The Ranse Volleyball Classic Pro Am 2-man volleyball tournament is headed to Deerfield Beach this weekend (Nov. 4-5).

Last year’s tournament raised nearly $40,000 and the event is a blind draw grab bag event, with King of the Beach style of “pool play.” You will sign up as an individual, and then players are “picked” during the Friday night player’s party to determine what court they will be playing on to determine their division level (Open/AAA – OR – AA/A).

The cost is $53 for adults and $31.80 for juniors, and the registration is open until 6 p.m. Nov. 2. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/RanseVolleyballClassic or www.facebook.com/DigtheBeach.

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.

By Gary Curreri

The Pompano Beach lifeguard community lost one of its most decorated competitors in a tragic car accident on Sunday morning.

According to reports, it appeared Konnor Katzmark, 22, was bait fishing on the bridge near Atlantic Blvd and US-1, and was struck and killed by a driver as he attempted to cross the road. There is a blind spot near the top of the bridge located near St. Coleman Church.

Katzmark started with the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Program when he was 9 years old, and in the nine years he was in the Juniors Program, he won numerous National Titles in both the paddleboard race and the distance run.

“Oftentimes while watching him compete in the paddleboard races, I would think to myself that he was truly “one with the ocean,” said Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Association President Nemia Schulte. “His style and speed on the paddleboard were truly a beautiful sight to watch.”

Katzmark was also one of the “founding competitors” for Youth Team USA in the U18 Worlds Competition in Australia in 2012. He, along with Schulte’s daughter, Julia, and Coach Chris Nowviskie, were the first representatives of Team Pompano to represent the United States in the coveted international competition simply known as “Worlds.”

Afterwards, they were all honored with a proclamation from the City of Pompano Beach, along with being chosen as the Grand Marshals for the Yuletide Parade, due to their international representations of Team Pompano.

“To many of us who had the privilege and honor of knowing him, Konnor was more than just a great waterman and competitor,” Schulte said. “Yes, he was a phenomenal surfer as well and he often embodied that typical “surfer dude” stance.”

Katzmark served as a professional lifeguard for both Deerfield Beach and Hollywood and was a multiple-time regional and national champion in the Rescue Board Race, 2K Beach Run, and Ironguard events.

“But to those who really knew him,” she continued, “Konnor was a great friend, sibling, brother and son. He was one of the most generous persons with his time and help for others. He had an infectious ready-made smile on his face, and his charismatic prose often led many of us in fits of giggles.”

Schulte called Katzmark an “overall good guy” and even though he graduated from the Juniors Program three years ago, Katzmark still touched many of the younger Juniors’ lives, oftentimes going surfing, fishing or learning to skateboard with him.

“In honor of Konnor, we request that everyone wear beach attire to both Friday and Saturday’s services,” said Schulte, who added there would be a Paddleboard Swim Out for Katzmark in the upcoming weeks as a tribute. “Beach attire would be considered board shorts and T-Shirts for the men and sundresses for the women.”

There will be a funeral visitation at Kraeer Funeral Home, 200 N. Federal Hwy., in Pompano Beach on Friday, June 30 from 4 to 8 p.m. Services will be held on Saturday, July 1 at 10 a.m. at St. Coleman Catholic Church, 1200 S. Federal Hwy., in Pompano Beach.

By Gary Curreri

More than 400 junior lifeguards competed in the 5th annual Junior Lifeguard State Championships recently on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.

Pompano Beach led the way with 60 competitors, while Deerfield Beach brought 27 junior lifeguards.

There were three primary age divisions in the state event including A Division (ages-14-17); B Division (ages 12-13); and C Division (ages 9-11) and an introductory Grommets Program (for 7-8 year-olds who are not yet qualified to join the Junior Lifeguard Team).

Pompano Beach’ Shannon Snell, 17, a senior at Cardinal Gibbons High School, is no stranger to the competition and turned in a stellar performance winning the Girls A Division of the beach flags event in addition to the surf swim and the run-swim-run.

Snell, who has been a junior lifeguard for nearly eight years, competed in last year’s World Championships in France last year where she placed 10th in beach flags; 6th in the 100-meter dash and 10th in the paddle.

“It was really epic to represent our country,” said Snell, who competed for the Pompano Beach junior lifeguard competition. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Admittedly, there is a lot of pressure being at a world level and in a high performance competition she said, “you need to know what you are doing.”

“I am going to remember everyone I competed with and the teamwork,” she added. “Just the part of racing with each other and working together… and making friends for life … We know each other and learn new tricks every year from each other.”

Deerfield Beach’s junior lifeguards was led by Daniel Padron, who won the B Division of the beach flags event, while Pompano Beach also got a strong performance from Summer Schulte, who won the B Division in the paddle, run-swim-run and surf swim. There were seven events – beach flags, paddle, run relay, run-swim-run, paddle relay, surf swim, and the ironguard.

Local winners in the beach flags were Shannon Snell (Pompano Beach, Girls A Division); Daniel Padron (Deerfield Beach, Boys B Division); Christian Quinones (Pompano Beach, Boys C Division).

Winners in the paddle were Andre Bacic (Deerfield Beach, Boys A Division); Nicholas Calice (Pompano Beach, Boys B Division); Summer Schulte (Pompano Beach, B Girls Division); Jake Schulte (Pompano Beach, Boys C Division); Tamara Backers (Deerfield Beach, Girls C Division); Reef Coote (Pompano Beach, Boys D Division) and Victoria Vanacore (Pompano Beach, Girls D Division).

Winners in the Run-Swim- Run competition were Race Wilhoit (Pompano Beach, Boys A Division); Shannon Snell (Pompano Beach, Girls A Division); Christian Henderson (Pompano Beach, Boys B Division); Summer Schulte (Pompano Beach, Girls B Division); Jake Schulte (Pompano Beach, Boys C Division).

Winners in the Surf Swim competition included Shannon Snell (Pompano Beach, Girls A Division); Christian Henderson (Pompano Beach, Boys B Division); Summer Schulte (Pompano Beach, Girls B Division) and Samantha Escobar (Pompano Beach, Girls D Division).

The state championships were a precursor to the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) regional competition recently in Daytona Beach. The national USLA competition will also be held in Daytona Beach on August 5.

By Gary Curreri

Gwen Bencie made the most out of her first year in the Deerfield Beach Ocean Rescue Junior Lifeguard program.

Bencie, 11, of Deerfield Beach, had spent her previous two years as a junior lifeguard with the Ft. Lauderdale program before moving to her hometown program.

She won the Girls C Division beach flags title, as well as the paddleboard championship, and placed third in the surf swim division in the second annual Florida State Junior Lifeguard Championships in Ft. Lauderdale recently.

“It is the first time I actually won beach flags,” said Bencie, who will be a Deerfield Beach Middle School sixth grader in the fall. “I was actually surprised, but really excited too. I never won beach flags before and the girls were really fast. I like junior life guarding because it is actually a lot of fun.”

Bencie said paddleboard is her favorite event. She’s captured nationals, regionals and states.

“Junior Life guarding has made me a stronger paddler and stronger in beach flags,” Bencie said. “It has also helped me learn about the water. They teach you how to rescue people.

Mike Brown, who heads the Deerfield Beach program, said the junior lifeguards get to see the other lifeguards from the other beaches and they may know them from school.

“We are proud to represent Deerfield and there is a lot of camaraderie there,” said Brown, who has been with the city for 15 years and headed up the program as its coach for the past six years. “A lot of kids, especially the ones who have never been a part of a team, accomplished something.”

Pompano Beach won the team competition with 1,240 points, while Ft. Lauderdale was second with 810 points. Hollywood and Deerfield Beach were third and fourth with 455 and 360 points, respectively, in the competition that featured nearly 150 competitors recently.

Other local double winners included Pompano Beach’s Sloan Sizemore (Run-Swim- Run, surf swim, Girls B Division); Pompano Beach’s Shane Shulte (Paddleboard, Run-Swim-Run, Boys C Division); Pompano Beach’s Kelly Shulte (Paddleboard, Surf-Swim, Boys B Division).

Individual winners included Pompano Beach’s Julia Schulte (beach flags, A Division); Glenis Carlson (beach flags, B Division); Pompano Beach’s Konnor Katzmark (Paddleboard, Boys A Division); Pompano Beach’s Race Wilhate (Run- Swim-Run, Boys B Division); Pompano Beach’s Clayton Adkins (Run-Swim- Run, Boys A Division).