Five Southampton Town Lifeguards Will Join East Hampton Crew At USLA Nationals

For several years, lifeguards from town and village beaches in East Hampton and Montauk have represented themselves on a big stage, competing in the United States Lifesaving Association’s National Lifeguard Championships under the umbrella of the Hamptons Lifesaving Association. Recently, a few guards from Southampton Town beaches have been getting into the act too, with two of its own joining the HLA team last year, and an additional three committing to the trip to Hermosa Beach, California, this year.

Southampton Town will be represented at the big competition—set to start on August 11—by Ronan Seltenreich, Genna Kovar, Patrick Banks, Casey Crowley, and Kristen Darby. Darby and Seltenreich competed with HLA last year, after two spots opened up at the last minute because a pair of East Hampton guards were unable to attend. They did well enough that the organizers from the HLA invited them back last year and asked if any of their peers would be interested in joining the team.

Seltenreich is a 2011 graduate of Westhampton Beach High School who was a standout wrestler. After high school, he served nearly four years in the U.S. Army, with two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and is now working part-time as a police officer in Quogue. In the summer months, he can be found on the lifeguard stand primarily at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.

Seltenreich, a 23-year-old resident of East Quogue, said he enjoyed the experience of competing at nationals last year and is happy to be going again.

“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for us,” he said. “We’re all very competitive and we’re always just trying to make ourselves better. And now we get to do it on a national level, with people who do it as a full-time job.”

Seltenreich added that his time in the military has served him well in other areas of life, even lifeguard competitions.

“It taught me who I was and what I was capable of, and it gave me an attitude of never quit; you can always keep going,” he said. “It translates well into lifeguarding and the competitive world.”

Seltenreich said he’s focused on competing in the paddle board race—a specialty of his because he’s a surfer—and he’d also like to compete in beach flags and on the 4x100 relay team.

Banks, 23, resides in East Quogue in the summer months and works alongside Seltenreich at Ponquogue, but is originally from New York City. The 2015 graduate of Cornell University was a competitive swimmer in high school, and hopes to compete in the 4x100 relay, beach flags and paddle board race at nationals.

“I’m really pumped for it,” he said of going to nationals, adding that he and Seltenreich have spent their time off the lifeguard stand dedicated to training for the competition. “It will be nice to represent Long Island and see what we can do.”

Kovar, like Banks and Seltenreich, also works the beaches on the western edge of Southampton Town, and is a familiar face to anyone who has followed Hampton Bays High School sports. Kovar was a phenomenal three-sport athlete at Hampton Bays before graduating in 2008, helping lead the school’s field hockey team to the Suffolk County Class C Championship, becoming a 1,000-point scorer for the basketball team, and leading the perennial powerhouse softball team to playoff glory. She went on to become an All-American field hockey player at Hofstra University, and was a member of the university’s women’s lacrosse team as well, despite never playing the sport in high school.

Crowley and Darby represent the eastern edge of the Southampton Town beaches, working primarily at Mecox Beach in Southampton.

Crowley is a 2009 graduate of Pierson High School, where he was a three-sport athlete and standout baseball player. Darby, 24, grew up on Staten Island but has spent her summers in Hampton Bays for years. She says she enjoyed the experience of competing last year and is looking forward to it again.

“It’s just an awesome opportunity,” she said. “I just love being in the ocean. I love seeing how much you can challenge yourself and push yourself.”

Darby said the competitions are great but training for them is also a reminder of how important their job is on a daily basis.

“When things happen as a lifeguard, I want to know that I’m going to be able to do what I need to do to help somebody,” she said. “I also encourage everyone else to train really hard because I want to know that the person going in with me will have my back.”