Lake Mohawk team wins lifeguard competition

Lake Mohawk’s lifeguard team dominated the North Jersey Lifeguard Competition on Aug. 4.

Teams from Lake Mohawk, Green Pond, Culver Lake and Pleasant Valley - a total of 30 lifeguards - met at Lake Mohawk’s Beach 1 for the annual competition. More than 80 people watched and cheered on the teams.

After all of the event scores were tabulated, Lake Mohawk Country Club (LMCC) Team 1 was first, followed by Green Pond, Culver Lake, LMCC Team 2 and Pleasant Valley.

Owen Englehardt of LMCC placed first in the male division’s Open Water 500-Yard Swim, followed by Green Pond’s Kristian Kipp, Culver Lake’s Dirk Peereboom and LMCC’s Michael Gaines.

Victoria Sweeney of Culver Lake won in the female division, followed by LMCC’s Molly Englehardt, Pleasant Valley’s Nadia McAuley and LMCC’s McKaela Reekie.

Will, Owen and Molly Englehardt of Lake Mohawk joined by Maureen Gaines placed first in the Rescue Tube Relay. Green Pond’s team of Brennan McVey, Brian Caggiano, Mackenzie Dickson and Marisa DeStefano was a close second. Angela Appice, Ryan VanOstenbridge, Zachery Yardley and Dirk Peereboom of Culver Lake took third.

LMCC and Green Pond battled it out in the Paddle Board Rescue Relay, with LMCC edging out Green Pond on the finish. Jake Koerner joined the Englehardts for the win. McVey, DeStefano, Kipp and Maya Caraccioli of Green Pond paddled hard to the end for second place. Culver Lake’s Sweeney, Appice, VanOstenbridge and Sofia Keller took third.

Green Pond and Culver Lake were leading through the run and swim sections of the Run/Swim/Paddle/Kayak event. Will Englehardt pulled up in the swim while Molly Englehardt pulled ahead for the finish in the kayak for the win. Culver Lake took second with Green Pond close behind for third.

The final event was the team scenario where manikins are submerged and one rescuer from each team swims out, surface dives to retrieve the “victim” and swims back to shore, where the rest of the team is ready to do team cardiopulmonary resuscitation with an automated external defibrillator (AED) and bag valve mask (BVM) for eight to 10 minutes. All teams start with 20 points and judges deduct points for deficiencies, such as communication or applying the AED or BVM.

Green Pond took first with a perfect score of 20 points, followed by LMCC’s Team 1 with 19 and LMCC’s Team 2 with 16 points.

Al Taliaferro, American Red Cross lifeguard instructor and past president of the New Jersey Pool Managers Association, served as head judge of the event. Dodie Guardia and Mark Carlson, also instructors, volunteered as judges.

Marine safety officer Kevin Raddey helped ferry the “victims” in the competition.

Lake Mohawk’s waterfront directors, Kathleen Whilesmith and Evalyn Fitzsimmons, along with lifeguard supervisors Ed Allen and Jack Dolan and many lifeguards helped set up and clean up.