PRESS RELEASE
July 15, 2019
Contact: Connie Conway
(631) 702-1743
Come cheer on your favorite Town of Southampton lifeguards in the annual inter-beach life guard competition. This year the competition is named the “Mike Diveris Battle of Southampton” in honor of one of the founding fathers of the Southampton Town Lifeguards group who passed away in June. Watch the men and women who rule the beach be put to the test in lifesaving, running and swimming events.
Mike Diveris Battle of Southampton 2019
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Scott Cameron Beach, Bridgehampton NY
6:00 pm
Mike Diveris became a Southampton Town ocean lifeguard in 1969 and was the first Town lifeguard to pass the Suffolk County ocean test. This ushered in the modern era of the Town’s ocean rescue group as everyone must now pass the grueling test to become an ocean lifeguard. Diveris was a leader and made the ocean lifeguards a professional organization. He was instrumental in encouraging women to join the team and compete when it was a predominantly male profession. He coached them in their first national competition. Diveris earned the respect of both men and women lifeguards for more than 30 years.
There will also be other competitions in the coming weeks. On the heels of the Inter-Beach competition, one male and one female team from Southampton will compete in the Main Beach Tournament in East Hampton on July 25th at 4:00pm. The Southampton Women’s team took home first place in the landline rescue and sprint relay last summer.
“These tournaments are a great opportunity to showcase our lifeguards’ skill and athleticism against neighboring lifeguard squads. The competitions are tough and each year we are very proud of the Southampton team who exemplify the outstanding guards we have protecting our beach goers,” said Southampton Parks Director Kristen Doulos.
The junior lifeguards also compete. This year the Junior Lifesaving Tournament will be held August 3rd at 9:00am at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays. The popular program for 11-15 year olds runs for five weeks at four different beaches in the eastern and western parts of the Town. The program includes training drills designed to teach the junior guards to recognize the power of the ocean, how to spot riptides and other dangerous currents and how to swim safely in the ocean. Also competing in the tournament this year, will be the first ever Southampton Town class of the new Nipper Guard program designed for 7-10 year olds which features many of the same activities as the junior program.
In an effort to support the Southampton Town Lifeguards in this year’s National Competition, a fundraiser will be held at Oakland’s Restaurant in Hampton Bays on Wednesday July 31st at from 6:30 to 8:30pm. The funds will be used to send the team to the US Lifesaving Association (USLA) National Competition in Virginia Beach in August. Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for people under 21 or students. It includes passed hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.