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125 Years of Lifeguards in Ocean City
BY FRED MILLER
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THIS summer the Ocean City Beach Patrol will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of professional bather protection in America’s Greatest Family Resort.
The summer of 1898 was the busiest in the resort’s history and with the huge increase in ocean bathers came drownings and near drownings. City Council decided it was time to hire lifeguards.
A special meeting was held on August 3, 1898 and councilmen Harry Headley, R. B. Stites, Nicholas Corson, Hiram Steelman, Joseph F. Hand and Mark Lake voted to “appoint three lifeguards to patrol the surf to render assistance when it may be required.” Thus, Ocean City became the only the second municipality in New Jersey to pay for bather protection. The pay was to be $40 a month for working every day from 9am to 3pm.
The following day R. Curtis Robinson, editor of the Ocean City Sentinel, and longtime supporter of city paid lifeguards, reported the councilmen’s historic decision: “The sea will be robbed of its terror by the appointment of three lifeguards by city council last night. The peerless beach here has long been a temptation to bathers to indulge in reckless behavior in the surf, and while there have been marvelously few drownings since the foundation of the resort, yet a number of narrow escapes have occurred, through the imprudence of bathers who have gone to extremes in trifling with the waves. It was therefore decided last night to appoint lifeguards, whose duties should be as much of a police nature as otherwise, in order to prevent reckless conduct in the surf, and to rescue any who might be foolhardy enough to disregard the warnings given them.
“The men appointed are Joseph P. Krauss, George W. Lee and William Scull. The first named will be captain of the force and will have authority to decide where each guard is to perform duty. The guards are by their appointment made conservators of the peace, with the functions of special policemen, and will have the power to arrest any fractious bather who persists in violating the warnings. Under the circumstances, it will be seen that the most inexperienced bathers need have no fear whatever as the entire bathing territory will be patrolled by experienced and efficient lifeguards, who will be on the constant lookout for imprudence and accidents.”
In 1910, Mayor Lewis Cresse named Krauss to fill the newly created position of superintendent of lifeboats, and appointed Alfred R. Smith as captain of the lifeguards. The two men guided the lifeguards until 1920. In the spring of 1920, Ocean City’s commissioners made two decisions that still influence the resort—they chose the motto America’s Greatest Family Resort, which is still used today, and appointed Jack G. Jernee as captain of the lifeguards.
Previously, the men who protected the bathers were called Ocean City Life Guards, and old photos show the men proudly wearing their uniforms lettered O.C.L.G. Captain Jernee changed the name to Ocean City Beach Patrol (OCBP).
Jernee used the experience he had gained in the U.S. Life Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard to build the patrol into one of the finest lifesaving squads in the country. He began testing applicants to determine their qualifications for the job, rather than simply appointing them, and he mandated training for members of the beach patrol.
During Jernee’s tenure, which ended in 1942 when he joined the Navy, members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol received national attention for their lifesaving skills, their athletic prowess, and giant water shows in the Flanders Hotel swimming pools. The water shows featured comedy acts, high diving acts, swimming races that pitted the area’s fastest swimmers against the Ocean City lifeguards.
It was during the summer of 1927 that John B. Kelly began his association with the OCBP. Kelly was a gold medalist in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games. Kelly and Jernee were friends until Kelly’s death in 1960. When money was tight in the 1930s, Kelly, a multi-millionaire, bought whatever the patrol needed.
His support of the local competitors paid off: the OCBP won almost every tournament they entered including the 1933, 1934 and 1935 National Lifeguard Championships.
In 1932, with Kelly’s support, Lifeguard Charles Kieffer won a gold medal rowing in the Olympic Games’ Pair with Coxswain event.
The OCBP received more national attention in 1941 when Lifeguard Archie Harris, competing for Indiana University, won the NCAA championship in the discus with a world record throw of 174 feet. While he was a student at Ocean City High School, Harris won the state championship in the discus, shot put and javelin throwing contests.
The summer of 1942, the first summer America was fighting in World War II, was a time of change for the Ocean City lifeguards. Captain Jernee left his beloved beach patrol to join the Navy, and Thomas A. Williams, a lifeguard since 1922, became the fourth captain.
Many of the lifeguards from the 1941 squad also joined the armed forces, leaving a lot of openings on the patrol. John B. Kelly’s son, Jack, was one of the rookie lifeguards on the 1942 beach patrol.
Jack Kelly quickly developed his rowing prowess. In 1943, he teamed with Sims Drain to win the OCBP doubles rowing championship. The following summer, rowing with Joe Regan, he repeated the feat.
After Kelly won the 1944 national schoolboy competitions were held in 1924, 1925, 1926, 1936 and 1937. The Atlantic City Beach Patrol won the first two, Wildwood won the next two, and Ocean City won the 1937 title.
With John B. Kelly’s support, the Ocean City Beach Patrol hosted the sixth South Jersey Lifeguard Championship on September 1, 1944 on Tenth Street beach. The rough ocean and strong winds made the trip to the half-mile flag buoys very difficult for the 10 competing crews. A couple of lifeboats capsized on the way out.
Kelly and Regan had a difficult time getting through the surf and were the third boat to reach the half-way point. But they stepped up their stroke on the inward journey and forged to the front. They crossed the finish line at 11 minutes and 58 seconds, 17 seconds ahead of the Atlantic City crew of Tom Detweiler and Joe Broome Jr.
Jack Kelly Jr. was considered the fastest rower in the world after he won the Henley Regatta’s Diamond Sculls at Henley, England.
Jack’s sister, Grace, who became a movie star and princess, was often seen at lifeguard competitions in the 1940s.
Captain Williams retired in 1962, and George T. Lafferty became the fifth captain of the lifeguards. He had been an Ocean City lifeguard in the late 1930s, but left for a career in the Navy.
During the Lafferty years, 1962 to 1983, the OCBP was the athletic power in South Jersey winning 15 South Jersey Lifeguard Championships.
In 1976, Lafferty hired the patrol’s first female lifeguard, Judy Leichner, after she scored high in the tryouts.
The year he retired, the OCBP yearbook was dedicated to Captain Lafferty: “He has worked tirelessly to ensure that the lifeguards he produced served the public with dedication, skill and professionalism.”
The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s tradition of excellence in bather protection has continued under the leadership of Oliver Muzslay, Alfred Bud McKinley, Thomas Mullineaux, Mark Jamieson, and Erich Becker.
