Knight Will Represent HLA at World Lifesaving Championships in Australia

For the first time since 2019, the Hampton Lifeguard Association will have representation on the international stage.

Liam Knight, 16, of East Hampton was named to the United States Lifesaving Association’s U19 Youth National Team, and will be one of 12 lifeguards — six male and six female — to compete for the U.S. at the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships set for August 20 through September 8 on the Gold Coast of Australia.

The competition tests the speed, endurance and skills of surf and pool lifesavers over four days of intense competition.

Knight will join a team of teen lifeguards who hail from all around the country, including Monmouth County, New Jersey, Jones Beach on Long Island, Santa Barbara, California, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Knight, who is entering his junior year at East Hampton High School, is currently in his first summer working as an ocean lifeguard for East Hampton Town at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett, but he is no stranger to the world of lifeguarding and lifeguarding competitions. He joined the town’s “Nippers” junior lifeguarding program in the first year it was offered, and he grew up going to the Atlantic Avenue Beach with his family. His father, Sean Knight, taught him how to boogie board, and by the time Knight was 10, he was competing at USLA Nationals as part of the HLA’s juniors squad. Knight has now competed at Nationals five times, and over the years he emerged as a solid competitor for the HLA team in a wide range of events.

While he has had plenty of experience and success at national lifeguard tournaments at a young age, Knight said he did not think he was a shoo-in to make it on Team USA for Worlds. The USLA staff reached out to him at the end of April to let him know they were considering him, and kept in touch, asking him what events he was strongest in, and what his times were in certain events. He got the call that he’d been officially invited to join the team while on his way home from school one day toward the end of the school year.

“It was very exciting,” he said. “ I was really surprised.”

Knight is not sure yet what events he’ll be competing in next month, but it’s likely he will be entered in the rescue board race, which is one of his strongest events. He’s already started to get to know his teammates, during a FaceTime call, and said they’re all excited for the trip around the world next month.

“Almost all of us have never experienced this big of a competition in our lives, so I really don’t know what to expect,” he said, pointing out that there are more than 5,000 people competing in the event, between the junior and open divisions.

For now, he’s continuing to focus on training, both in the water and on land, swimming, running, hitting the gym, and doing paddleboard training. He’s relying on a strong network of supporters to help him prepare, including his father, Sean, and his grandfather, Bill Herzog, who is best known in East Hampton for his decades of coaching track and field at East Hampton High School. Knight said he’s also appreciative of the guidance and support of East Hampton Town Chief Lifeguard and head of HLA, Johnny Ryan, as well as his cross country coach, Kevin Barry, and East Hampton Hurricanes YMCA swim team coaches Tom Cohill and Angelika Cruz.