TOM WILLIAMS COLUMN: Sports camps that start in August
July 2, 2018
OCHS Spring Review: Baseball and softball have talent returning
July 4, 2018

VIDEO, PHOTO GALLERY: Hometown lifeguard wins Cape May SuperAthalon for second time

Eventual winner Rob Moran gets help from members of the Cape May Beach Patrol at the start of the rowing leg of the SuperAthalon race.

  • Michael Barrett of Ocean Beach finishes the 2018 SuperAthalon in Cape May.
  • Brandon Hontz of the Avalon Beach Patrol exits the surf with a third-place finish in the 2018 SuperAthalon.
  • Tim Schwegman of Longport, the 2017 SuperAthalon champion, placed second in this year's race.
  • Rob Moran of the host Cape May Beach Patrol celebrates after winning the SuperAthalon for the second time in three years.
  • Upper Township's Kyle Rumaker rows through the surf during the Cape May SuperAthalon.
  • Patrick Bakey of Wildwood Crest gets help pushing away from the beach at the start of the rowing leg of the Cape May SuperAthalon.
  • Ocean City's Bryan Pasternak rows during the SuperAthalon.
  • Wildwood's Brandon Joyce rows away from the beach during the Cape May SuperAthalon.
  • Eventual winner Rob Moran gets help from members of the Cape May Beach Patrol at the start of the rowing leg of the SuperAthalon race.
  • Longport's Tim Schwegman at the start of the row.
  • Sea Isle City's Nick Matousch was in contention early in the Cape May SuperAthalon.
  • Brandon Hontz of the Avalon Beach Patrol leads the pack during the run in the 2018 Cape May SuperAthalon.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CAPE MAY — Two past champions battled for top honors at the Cape May SuperAthalon lifeguard race Monday evening.

In the end, Rob Moran of the host patrol got by defending champion Tim Schwegman of Longport over the final minutes of the run-row-swim triathlon-style race to win for the second time in three years.

Moran, who posted a time of 45 minutes, 2 seconds, won the event for the second time in three years. He swam to the beach to rousing cheers from his patrolmates at the close of the race. He beat Schwegman, the champion in 2015 and 2017, by 38 seconds.

Moran, 29, a part-time lifeguard in Cape May who is also an attorney, is a seasoned athlete who competes in (and often wins) triathlons throughout the region.

The SuperAthalon is an individual competition that regularly draws only the elite among lifeguard race competitors. Each represented patrol can send just one athlete to the event, which includes a 2.3-mile run, 1.5-mile row and what is advertised as a quarter-mile swim but seems obviously longer.

Moran was in the middle of the pack after the run, passed a few boats in the row and then made his move in the swim. Schwegman, 32, was third after the run but first after the row, but couldn’t hold off Moran’s charge.

Brandon Hontz, a 19-year-old rookie lifeguard from Avalon, placed third in 46:08. The Penn State distance runner blazed to a big lead after the run, fell back to the pack in the row and then enjoyed a strong finish in the swim.

Ocean Beach lifeguard Michael Barrett was fourth in 46:32 and Randy Townsend of Harvey Cedars rounded out the top five in 47:18.

Twelve lifeguards competed in the event.

Moran is the 10th lifeguard to win the 37-year event twice. Bick Murphy, still an active lifeguard in Wildwood Crest, won the SuperAthalon a record eight times, the last time in 2005.