Lifeguards to run, swim, and compete in regional championships July 13

Rehoboth Beach will host the United States Lifesaving Association’s (USLA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships Wednesday, July 13. Lifeguards from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia will compete in ocean and sand events to qualify to compete in the USLA National Championships in Hermosa Beach, California, August 11-13.

“This is a great tradition,” says Capt. Jeff Giles, who heads up the Rehoboth Beach Patrol. “The competition can be really intense, but it’s a lot of fun, too. This is a great opportunity for our lifeguard-athletes – and Rehoboth Beach – to shine.”

Competition will begin at 10 am with the 2K beach run. All competitions will take place on the beach, mostly between Baltimore and Maryland avenues. That section of the beach will be closed for beach-going purposes, but the public is welcome to come cheer on the athletes.

Events include run, swim, and rescue competitions in individual and team categories. A couple of the more distinctive competitions include the landline rescue race, in which participants include a “victim,” rescuer, and two landline pullers, and beach flags, a beach version of musical chairs in which athletes, who begin by lying face down in the sand, are eliminated one by one as they race between “flags” 20 meters away. Beach flag heats will begin at noon.