While the red sun was setting behind hazy wildfire smoke last Thursday, Lucy Emptage, the assistant chief lifeguard for the Village of East Hampton, watched her guards take on the town in their annual volleyball tournament at Main Beach. It was a precursor of sorts to this Thursday's Main Beach lifeguard tournament, which starts at 4 and draws teams from across Long Island.
With music blasting, temporary stadium lights in the sand, pizza boxes piled up, and an M.C. calling teams to three different courts, she admitted a hard truth: “The town usually wins, but we always put up a good fight.”
This time around, the village put up more than a good fight. In two straight sets, village team seven — Charlie Condon, Cole Dunchick, James Corwin, and Sara O’Brien — won the final match of the night, taking home the Battle at the Beach trophy and bragging rights until next July.
Watching team seven win the tournament, you would never guess this was their first time playing together.
“It’s not like we have teams set up. They get here, they’re just a name in a pool or a number in a pool and they get sorted out and they play with different people they’ve never played with before,” said John Ryan Jr., the town’s chief lifeguard. “It’s just like lifeguarding. You never know who you’re going to work with.”
After the match-winning point, lifeguards from both sides poured onto the courts, celebrating a great night of fun.
“Bringing the town and village together, it’s so special. I love the competitiveness,” said Hugh Portny, a third-year lifeguard with the town. “The rivalry is super good, but at the end of the day it’s just straight camaraderie. Everyone is brought together and it’s what makes Montauk, Amagansett, and East Hampton so special. No better vibes.”
Earlier in the day, it wasn’t clear whether the tournament would go on, with wildfire smoke from Canada blanketing the area. In the morning, the town closed its camps and canceled the Nippers program at Albert’s Landing. But by the afternoon, the winds picked up and the smoke began to clear, giving the village organizers hope.
“We were looking at it all day and we were a little hesitant at first, but we noticed that it was clearing as the evening was coming on,” Emptage said. “Also being on the coast, there’s a lot of wind picking up, so we weren’t as bothered by it, and we got the clear go-ahead.”
Sean Knight, a junior lifeguard instructor with the town, has been lifeguarding at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett for 30 years. He was thrilled to be there, even though his team was knocked out early.
“I won the first two years in a row we played this tournament. It’s been downhill ever since,” he said, laughing.
Whether they were winners or not, town or village, all of the lifeguards said they had a great night just being together.
“We all guard the same waters so it’s really good to get some bonding moments together and do stuff that we love, right before the lifeguard tournament too, so it’s really cool we get to see each other more,” Emptage said.
