Hampton Beach lifeguards save 456
Cite 9,300 for drinking alcohol
HAMPTON — From a hovercraft’s emergency stop on the beach to a plane carrying a banner crash landing in the Atlantic, Hampton Beach lifeguards responded this summer to scenes like the ones you would see on the TV show “Baywatch.”
Lifeguard Chief Patrick Murphy said the guards made 456 rescues this season in what he called one of their “busiest summers on record.”
“We had a lot going on, we had a hovercraft, we had the plane crash,” Murphy said. “At Wallis Sands, we had a car crash.”
On June 17, a hovercraft on its way to Nova Scotia from Cape Cod “beached itself” at Hampton Beach after suffering a 3-foot tear in its rubber skirt. The next day at Wallis Sands Beach in Rye, a car sped off Ocean Boulevard before falling 100 feet onto the sand.
A month later, on July 29, a small plane pulling a banner advertising a concert crashed into the ocean just off Hampton Beach. Murphy said it took lifeguard Kevin Kelsey 56 seconds to swim out and reach the pilot, who was not hurt. The guards later removed the plane, pulling it out of the water with a rope.
Murphy recently gave an overview of the summer to the Hampton Beach Village District commissioners. The 456 rescues included 91 during Labor Day weekend and six on Oct. 4. The guards recently finished their season Oct. 9.
Hampton Beach lifeguards make 456 saves this summer
The majority of the rescues were due to rip currents.
“The rip currents were very strong (this year), and they pulled throughout the day,” Murphy told the Hampton Beach Village District commissioners.
Murphy said Hampton Beach is prone to rip currents, and they can pop up without warning.
“The ocean is an everchanging environment,” Murphy said.
He said the guards spent a great deal of time this summer educating beachgoers on rip currents and what to do if they get caught in one. The guards also hosted a Water Safety Day at Hampton Beach.
“We just trying the best we can to get the information out there to keep people safe,” Murphy said.
Rip currents are fastmoving flows of water that form when waves break near the shore, creating a difference in water levels. They can vary in width and direction and can pull swimmers away from the shore or along it. To escape a rip current, Murphy said swimmers should swim parallel to the shore until they are out of the current, then swim back at an angle.
Murphy said rip currents are most prevalent at the main beach from mid to low tide, especially when there is an east wind.
The rip currents on Labor Day weekend, he said, were flash rips, which can form and disappear quickly, due to big waves from Hurricane Lee.
Two deaths due to rip currents at Hampton Beach
Hampton Beach was reminded of the ocean’s power this year when rip currents claimed the lives of two young men swimming while lifeguards were not on duty.
On July 22, Edmilson Gomes, 27, of Brockton, Massachusetts, was caught in a rip current and pulled to shore unresponsive. First responders performed life-saving procedures, and he was transported to the hospital, where he died ten days later. Another person the same age, Wandy Bethancourt-Adames, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was swimming Sept. 5 when he was caught in a rip current and needed to be pulled to shore. He was also treated by first responders and transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead that night.
Murphy said of the 456 rescues this summer, 114 of them were before or after the lifeguards normal 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. shift.
“That does not include anything that the Fire Department or Police Department did,” Murphy said. “That means myself or crew were still on the beach, or we got there early before 9 a.m. and were making a rescue.”
Murphy said Hampton Fire Department would call guards back if an issue arose on the beach and they needed assistance.
Murphy reminded beachgoers not to swim when lifeguards are not on duty.
Lifeguards report over 9,000 alcohol violations at Hampton Beach
While their main duty at the beach is to ensure the safety of all swimmers, the lifeguard’s job doesn’t stop at the water’s edge.
Murphy told Hampton Beach commissioners that they located 213 missing children, assisted disabled persons with their beach wheelchair 255 times and provided first aid to 645 beachgoers this summer. They also removed 2,032 dogs from the beach, including “162 of those from people who gave our guards a very hard time.”
Pets are not allowed on the beach from May 1 to Sept. 30.
The guards also set a record for the number of alcohol violations reported with a total of 9,300 this summer.
Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno told selectmen this week they asked lifeguards to remove people found drinking at the beach this summer to curb issues that would arise later during the day with disorderly conduct. Alcohol is not allowed at Hampton Beach State Park.
“We basically made a decision early on there was going to be no tolerance,” Murphy said. “We know there is alcohol, and we can’t get everybody, but we are trying our hardest to remove the alcohol.”
Murphy credits staff for a successful summer
Murphy credited the 81-lifeguard staff, ranging from ages 16 to 70, for the work they did this summer.
“They are probably the best crew that I have seen,” Murphy said.
The guards were honored by Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council with a commendation for their “heroic actions” displayed this summer during the Executive Council’s Aug. 23 meeting.
“Let’s not forget, they pulled a freakin’ airplane out of the ocean. That in itself was pretty amazing, and the entire country saw it and was very impressed,” Sununu said at the meeting.
Executive Councilor Janet Stevens said the guards’ oversight of curbing drinking on the beach “intercepted any fighting that we have seen in past years.”
“But most importantly, you have allowed handicapped people to enjoy the beach close to 300 times by getting them wheelchair-accessible apparatus to get to the beach,” said Stevens. “You guys are stars.”
The guards also won the New England Lifesaving Championship at Hampton Beach and the Northeastern Lifesaving Competition in Ogunquit, Maine, this summer.
The annual contests allow guards to show off their lifesaving skills. Events included a 2-mile soft sand race; paddle board rescue, where lifeguards need to paddle 100 meters from shore, rescue a person and paddle back; and the “iron guard,” an event that involves a 100-meter run, a 300-meter swim, another 300-meter run and then a 400-meter paddleboard section.
And while 456 saves in one summer are a lot, it was not a record. Murphy said the record was in 2020 with more than 500 rescues.
“In 2020, it was the third of July every single day,” said Murphy, who noted it was after restrictions were lifted from the COVID pandemic. “We were dealing with bad rip currents just like this year.”
New Hampshire State Parks Seacoast supervisor Meredith Collins recently announced Murphy is now a full-time employee. Murphy will be spending the winter, she said, working to make operations better for next summer.