SEA BRIGHT – With many Jersey Shore towns scrambling to hire enough lifeguards this summer, Sea Bright has held the line with its unique lifeguard program that maintains staffing and an effective training pipeline – all while some other beaches, including federal beaches at Sandy Hook, are facing potentially dangerous shortfalls.
“We haven’t been too affected by the lifeguard shortage,” said John (Jack) Forsman, chief of Sea Bright Ocean Rescue. “We have a Junior Guard program affiliated with our patrol. So, when kids are of age to become a lifeguard, which is 16 years old, they usually just transition pretty easily on our patrol.”
That transition is made possible through a structured system that begins with children as young as 5 and culminates in the Nipper program that Forsman said is a volunteer lifeguard track for 13- to 15-year-olds inspired by Australia’s surf lifesaving tradition.
“What’s unique about us is that with the older kids in Junior Guards, we have a Nipper program,” Forsman said, when kids in their early teens get to “basically be like volunteer lifeguards, but they don’t get paid and they’re not certified. We have them sit on the lower scoop of our stand, and they learn every day our daily tasks, what we do in situa- tions and whatnot.”
This early exposure to lifeguarding situations prepares the kids to then step into actual lifeguarding roles when they turn 16. A “majority of our rookies, when they turn 16, have been working side-by-side with us… for the past four or five years,” Forsman said.
Thanks to this pipeline, Sea Bright now has 52 lifeguards on its roster, Sea Bright Council President Samuel Catalano and chair of the Beach Committee confirmed – a number that stands in stark contrast to neighboring Sandy Hook, which entered the season with fewer than half that number.
The municipal beach in Sea Bright, located at 1097 Ocean Ave., and the Anchorage public beach, located at 961 Ocean Ave.,are the two beaches that have borough lifeguards in Sea Bright during the summer. (The private beach clubs in the borough provide their own lifeguards for their members.) Sea Bright lifeguards are paid hourly and salaries vary based on experience and level of cer tification, said Catalano, but the value of the job goes beyond the paycheck.
“It is important for potential lifeguards to understand the importance the position holds in regard to providing the public with emergency response. The skills lifeguards will learn and utilize on a daily basis are lifetime skills that will benefit them in all aspects of life moving forward,” read a resolution recently passed by the Monmouth County Commissioners recognizing lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
“Monmouth County boasts 27 miles of beautiful beaches and 26 miles of bayfront shores, and our beaches serve as a popular tourist destination for visitors from across the country,” said Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone at a county commissioners’ meeting last month. “Our lifeguards are true lifesavers on those beaches. Open water lifeguards play a vital role in protecting countless lives from serious injury or death, often at great risk to their own safety. We are proud to pass this resolution in support of recognizing their service.”
“Many open water lifeguards are cross-trained in emergency medical response, marine fire safety, law enforcement and water rescue craft operations,” said commissioner Dominick “Nick” DiRocco. “Lifeguards perform the four defined duties of an emergency response employee: respond and attend to victims, treat victims, assist victims, and transport victims. Lifeguards not only protect life, but also property, evidence and the environment.”
Meanwhile, staffing concerns at Sandy Hook have caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6), who sent a letter June 9 to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum raising the alarm about what he called “historically low staffing” at the Gateway National Recreation Area, which includes Sandy Hook.
“I am gravely concerned about the ramifications of the Trump Administration’s policies on Sandy Hook’s future as a place for safe recreation in a clean, natural environment,” Pallone wrote. “We cannot let this situation repeat itself this summer, though I am concerned your disregard for the vital health and safety roles that NPS staff play may result in tragedy at Sandy Hook.”
In his letter, Pallone criticized hiring freezes, staff cuts and what he described as a “vacuum of information” that leaves communities in the dark.
“The government should protect the ability of parks such as Sandy Hook to serve Americans and contribute to the tourism economy, not create potentially dangerous and filthy conditions in the parks by failing to hire the necessary lifeguards and maintenance staff.”
Sea Bright’s rescue team is often called to assist at nearby beaches on Sandy Hook and in Monmouth Beach.
“If Monmouth Beach has a water rescue or if they have a boat in distress off their beach, we get dispatched to them,” Forsman said. “Same thing with Sandy Hook.”
While Forsman said they can respond as far as Long Branch, “it’s usually just Monmouth Beach and Sandy Hook that we respond to.”
Even with a stable roster, Forsman noted that lifeguard recruiting is challenging due to low pay and the pressures of constant public scrutiny.
“I know a lot of beaches – like our beach – I think we start at $15.75 (per hour), and nowadays, with inflation and everything, that price can’t always cut it,” he said. Additionally, he noted, “People get upset with us every single day about different things, and they want to film (us). They want to record… and I think it’s almost the exposure to the public that wards people away from becoming lifeguards.”
Forsman also added that young guards are often unprepared for the maturity the job demands. “Somebody’s going to be drowning, and you, as a child, save them. It could be a person that’s 30, it could be someone that’s 70. They’re going to look at that (lifeguard) as an adult.” He said that responsibility could deter people from working as a lifeguard.
Still, Forsman remains deeply committed to his work and the team he now leads.
“This is by far the best job I’ve ever had, and probably ever going to have,” he said. “I tell all my rookies when they come in, you could always go to a restaurant and be a food runner or a busboy… but being here, you’re not going to be paid as much, but you’re going to get life experiences that you’ll never get anywhere else,” he said.
Sea Bright Ocean Rescue was founded in 2013 by lifeguard Mike Hudson following Super Storm Sandy, which devastated the town.
“This town was completely destroyed by the storm,” Forsman said. “They were all looking to get a legit lifeguarding service in here. Mike built it from the ground up.”
Hudson passed away in 2022, but his legacy lives on in a lifeguard service that not only protects Sea Bright’s own beaches but supports the neighboring communities in times of crisis.
“We’re going to be out here every day,” Forsman said. “And we’re going to guard the beach to the best of our ability – no matter what.”
The article originally appeared in the June 26 – July 2, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
