The 34th annual East Hampton Town Junior Lifeguarding tournament, the culmination of the town program that teaches ocean safety and lifesaving techniques to kids ages 9 to 15, will take place at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Every weekend over the past six weeks, trainees have practiced in the ocean at Atlantic Avenue and Ditch Plain in Montauk, running rescue drills of all sorts and learning from real conditions how to handle themselves safely in the surf.
Those skills were put to the test during junior lifeguard training at Ditch Plain on July 19, when conditions suddenly shifted, creating a strong rip current on the west side of the jetty. A pair of boogie boarders got sucked into the current and needed help from the lifeguards on duty. Then 10 of the youngest junior lifeguard trainees, who were doing a torpedo rescue drill with their instructors, also got caught in the current and were carried out along the jetty. With help from 10 lifeguards and the instructors, all the trainees were brought safely back to shore.
“This is the dynamic nature of the environment the Junior Lifeguard Program is preparing the community’s youth to be confident in,” John Ryan Jr., the town’s lifeguard chief, wrote in a letter the next day to parents. “This weekend’s rescue at Ditch was a teachable moment for the juniors,” he wrote. “They learned firsthand how quickly the environment can change and why, despite their skill, they need to swim near lifeguards. They learned the power of panic and why they need to stay calm and controlled until the rescuer gets to them and the confidence to know that it will,” he wrote.
On Saturday and Sunday, the junior lifeguards will get to show off what they’ve learned and bond with fellow participants in contests in the water and on the beach. The event is free, but parking is limited; the large lot typically fills up early in the day.