When the 2025 International Surf Rescue Challenge gets going in New Zealand this week, a quarter of the United States Lifesaving Association Youth National Team will hail from the Hamptons. Gemma Garbuio, Liam Knight, Daisy Pitches, and Dylan Zucker are all Under-19 (U19) competitors with the Hampton Lifeguard Association (H.L.A.) whose performances at nationals this summer earned them a spot on the U.S. team that will compete Down Under.
“We had scouts at our national competition in California this August and they came over and told us they’d like us to join the team,” Pitches said from the pool deck of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter last week. “It’s super exciting. I’ve never been that far and it’s going to be such a cool experience to go there and compete for the U.S.A.”
The foursome from the H.L.A. is preparing for a long day of testing their lifesaving skills in the sun. Knight, who competed on the team last year in Australia, called it exhausting but exciting. “We have to do multiple events from swimming to running and even go around on paddleboards and kayaks,” Knight said. “It’s eight hours of going back and forth in all the events. It’s very exciting, especially meeting people from all new countries.”
Knight, a senior who lives year round in East Hampton, is competing in several events, but says the paddleboards are his favorite, especially in big waves. Pitches, also a senior at East Hampton High, is focused on swimming. “I’m excited for that since I trained for it specifically,” she said. “It’s in the ocean, so you have to get ready for all the waves and the currents, and you can’t see clearly, so you have to learn how to spot and swim differently. I’ve been doing it since I was 10, so I kind of know what to do.” Garbuio, a senior at Marymount School in New York City whose family is here in the summer, will be running in New Zealand, Dylan Zucker, also from New York City and here in the summer, will swim.
The lifeguards’ experience in New Zealand will be reminiscent of that at an Olympic Village, with the Americans rooming together, separated from the outside world. “We’re getting there two days early so we can experience New Zealand,” Knight said. “After that we’re with the team for the remainder of the period and our parents aren’t allowed to communicate with us until competition day.” It’s great preparation, should lifeguarding be added to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Pitches and Knight say they’ll prepare for the International Surf Rescue Challenge with plenty of pasta, protein, and rest. They anticipate their toughest competition will come from Australia and New Zealand.
