Avalon Beach Patrol wins the South Jersey Lifeguard Championships

As the son of the legendary retired Avalon Beach Patrol Chief Murray Wolf, Avalon’s current beach patrol chief, Matt Wolf, has inherited the singular legacy of his no-nonsense dad’s 65-year career, which featured nine South Jersey championships, no drownings, and a celebrated feud with Angelo Cataldi.

After Monday night in Brigantine, Matt Wolf might be on his way to legendary status himself.

At the heavily anticipated South Jersey Lifeguard Championships, Avalon squeaked out a last-second win over reigning champ Brigantine to take the trophy back to Seven Mile Island, adding to the wild icy-water win by the Avalon women on Aug. 7 at the Bill Howarth Women’s Lifeguard Invitational in Ventnor.

The squad also won the David J. Kerr Memorials in Avalon in July, a race so prized in Avalon that Murray Wolf delayed his retirement in 2019 after the lifeguards lost so he could try to go out on a win (the race was canceled the next season because of COVID-19).

» READ MORE: Avalon Beach Patrol Chief Murray Wolf retires after 65 years

It was Avalon’s first South Jersey win since 2015, when Matt Wolf rowed singles and his brother rowed in the doubles boat. The win gave them the joy of the beach’s most beloved rituals: the participants carried aloft in the boat, the police escort back through Avalon, the parading of the trophy the day after along the beach. And, best of all, the right to host the championships the following year.

It’s not the Olympics, but it sure feels as thrilling, and, for Avalon, as joyful.

But Wolf wants everyone to remember: These competitors are first and foremost lifeguards, and both the day of the race and the day after, they were back in the chairs, back making rescues, back sprinting up the boardwalk carrying defibrillators.

He said his dad, who turns 86 this month and famously tangled with sports talker Cataldi over beach tags, was “very excited” about the win.

“Quite frankly, I felt like we had the best patrols the last three summers,” he said. “We just didn’t get it going that night.”

Monday night, everything went Avalon’s way, including a final oar-to-oar ride in on a wave by both Brigantine and Avalon in the singles row.

Both boats caught the same wave, both boats went sideways, but Avalon’s Ryan Finnegan was able to recover and ride in to a one-point victory over Brigantine, the defending champion.

Matt Wolf, once a competitor, now was the coach standing in the flatbed of the lifeguard truck, watching with binoculars and signaling the rowers with flags to help them navigate to shore.

“At roll call, the last thing I said to the guards is, ‘We have to take care of the people,’” said Wolf, 40, who teaches physical education and coaches wrestling at Middle Township High School.

“Lifeguard racing is great, but last summer we made 909 rescues. This is public safety. The racing is great for team building. We recruit athletes because they know how to work as a team. They can do the job on the beach.

“If my wrestling team won a championship, we’d celebrate with doughnuts and hang out,” he said. “We’re back on the stand.”

The win by Avalon follows a stretch of Absecon Island victories, with Margate and Longport winning before last year’s Brigantine victory.

The lifeguard races, in which the South Jersey beach patrols battle one another in a series of races consisting of ocean swims, and single and doubles row in the signature Van Duyne Surf Boats, are a defining feature of the Jersey Shore, and heavily prepared for and anticipated by beach patrols and fans alike.

Wolf said he doesn’t feel like he’s in the shadow of his father, though he gets asked that a lot. Murray Wolf made sure his son had a lot of teachers, coaches, and mentors in his life, and raised him to be his own person.

“I think we’re kind of continuing the tradition of excellence,” he said. “Shadow is not the word I’d use.”

His father “does not miss a Friday night race,” Matt Wolf said. (Monday’s race was postponed from Friday because of surf conditions).

The women’s win was also exciting, Wolf said. With the ocean temperature at 54 degrees, the swimmers were allowed to wear wetsuits and all did, except Avalon’s Becca Cubbler, who won. Sisters Regan and Molly McDonnell won the doubles row in rough surf and fog.

“The wetsuit restricts your movement,” Wolf said. “She sucked it up. She’s very tough. She swam during the day that day. She’s got her process.”

Of his dad, who now has the next generation of Avalon trophies to celebrate, Wolf said: “He’s doing well. A lot of walking the dog, riding his bike, yelling at the Phillies right now.”