VERO BEACH —A team of Lifeguards from Vero Beach competed in this year’s Nautica USLA Lifeguard Championships in Daytona Beach and scored a top 10 finish capped by five age-group national titles.
Team members Todd Rapp (captain), Vincent Valentino, Murray Baker, Colter Hannawalt and Robert Assay competed in various job-related athletic events incorporating running, swimming and water vessel paddling; skills which lifeguards use while on the job.
This was the first time that Vero Beach has fielded a team. With help from the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association, team members traveled to Daytona Beach along with 40 other teams from around the nation to compete in some of the 13 events. Teams were divided into 2divisions: departments with 100-plus lifeguards on staff and departments with less than 100 on staff. The Vero Beach team competed in the under 100 group.
Leading the Vero Beach team was Murray Baker, a long-time City of Vero Beach lifeguard with 3 age-group national titles followed by Todd Rapp, a captain with Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue and part-time City of Vero Beach lifeguard with 1 age-group title.
“Every rescue we have is a race; a race against time when someone is drowning. Being athletic is a necessity and an integral part of our job,” said Rapp.
“It was amazing to see teams from all over the country bringing all their expensive equipment, being paid to be here and having their hotels paid for. We are a small team, coming on our own dime and competing with the big boys. We did pretty well,” said Vincent Valentino about his first trip to nationals.
“There were collegiate athletes and past Olympians on some of the teams. Some teams even hire those guys for 24 hours so they can compete on a team. I just wanted my guys to train hard, have fun, get some experience and compete. I’m glad we did so well”, Rapp added.
