Southampton lifeguards compete on sand and in water in qualifying contest for nationals

The best lifeguards from nine beaches in the Town of Southampton will compete Thursday in the Mike Diveris Memorial Interbeach Lifeguard Competition, challenging their athletic ability in pursuit of bragging rights.

This year’s contest will feature around 50 Southampton lifeguards, forming between eight and 12 teams. Events throughout the night include a 4x100-meter relay and a 1.2-mile distance run in the sand, a 400-yard distance swim and a surfboard paddle relay in the ocean.

"It’s a long-standing tradition not just for us, but for lifeguards around the world," said Dave Riley, assistant chief of the Town of Southampton and lifeguard competition organizer. "There’s an idea of training and competing to be our best; to use it to get better at our craft."

The event starts at 6 p.m. at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.

The culminating event is called "beach flags." Organizers like to end with this because it's the event that spectators on the beach can see most easily.

"It’s basically like musical chairs," Riley said. "You’re sprinting on the sand for a piece of a rubber tube and there’s always one less than there are people."

The competition traditionally serves as a precursor to the East Hampton Main Beach competition held later in July and the USLA National Lifeguard Championships in August. This year’s national championships will be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Aug. 5-7.

At the national event, Southampton, East Hampton and Montauk lifeguards join together to compete as the Hampton Lifesaving Association.

The Southampton competition has been held for more than 40 years. Since 2019, it has been named in honor of former Southampton lifeguard Mike Diveris, who died on June 17 of that year from a heart attack at the age of 72.

Diveris was one of the first to complete the challenging Suffolk County ocean certification test in 1970, the town said in a news release. He also taught first and fourth grade at Hampton Bays Elementary School from 1971 to 2001 prior to joining the Hampton Bays High School social studies department. Diveris also coached the Hampton Bays varsity football team to a league championship in 1987 and later coached in the Westhampton Beach school district.

"He was always a very beloved teacher," said Kristen Doulos of Southampton’s Parks Department, who went to Hampton Bays High School. "He was one of those teachers where people would say ‘he was my favorite teacher.’ Just a great guy."

"He helped really professionalize lifeguarding in the town and bring our ocean certification test up to the standards that we utilize," Doulos added.

"He was the ultimate waterman, he would go no matter what," Riley said. "I had tremendous respect for him in the water. He’s got a great legacy in [Southampton]. He was a fantastic role model for lifeguards to push our training and make sure we’re comfortable in anything the ocean can serve us.

"Our goal here is to make great watermen like Mike, and waterwomen," Riley said. "Just to become better at handling the surf, and that’s what [Mike] did — mastering our equipment and being best prepared for when someone needs our help."

Diveris’ lifeguarding colleagues honored his legacy with a commemorative bench and plaque overlooking Ponquogue Beach.