THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9508310283
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 53 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
CHAMPAGNE IS USUALLY the beverage of choice for champions.
But Ann Marie Welch used a different potion to get home from her victory at the U.S. Lifeguard Association National Championships in Santa Cruz, Calif.
``I don't drink, but I had a couple of margaritas,'' she said. ``I had a smile on my face for two weeks. I could have floated all the way home. I got a great buzz from winning.''
Welch, a 25-year-old Nags Head resident in her last year of graduate school in exercise physiology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, won the two-mile run at the national competition last month.
Manteo High School graduate Chris O'Neill also took high honors at the contest.
O'Neill, a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, advanced to the semifinals in the beach flags competition, an event that tests a lifeguard's ability to spot a swimmer in trouble.
``I've spent every summer at the beach,'' Welch said. ``I used to be a competitive boogie-boarder and a surfer. I'd work down here in the summer and wait tables, but it really cut into my time. Lifeguarding really fit in my schedule. I really love it.''
Nags Head Deputy Fire Chief Bill Ryan and Lifeguard Beach Services Director Bob Gabriel say Welch and O'Neill have special gifts.
``I think the thing that makes Ann Marie a good ocean lifeguard is her attitude,'' Ryan said. ``She has an ability to calm victims down. That's very important.''
Welch has worked as a lifeguard for Nags Head Ocean Rescue for the past six summers.
Gabriel pointed out that there is no such thing as a ``natural'' in ocean rescue.
``Every single one of these kids score high in academics, is highly physical and very, very competitive,'' Gabriel said. ``You look at Chris, and you can see it. You can feel it.''
That competitive fire burns for Welch and O'Neill. Welch, who ran track and cross country in her undergraduate years at East Carolina University, hopes to work as a wellness coordinator for the FBI or a hospital after completing her graduate studies.
O'Neill, a soccer and wrestling standout at Manteo High, has an eye on medical school after graduation from Chapel Hill.
Along with his athletic achievements, O'Neill carried a 3.8 grade point average at Manteo.
Like Welch, O'Neill spent his growing-up summers on the beach. The chemistry major surprised the field in Santa Cruz, reaching the semifinals in his first competition.
In the event, five lifeguards lie on their stomachs. At the signal, they turn and sprint to the water, hoping to get to one of four flags.
The competition helps lifeguards improve response time. Seconds saved in a contest can mean a swimmer saved in real life.
``It's like musical chairs,'' O'Neill said. ``You have to pick up the flag quickly on the water, just as you have to pick up a victim quickly in the water.''
What makes a good lifeguard?
``You have to be aware,'' Welch said. ``You have to be in shape. And you have to be responsible enough to know your job and do it.''
O'Neill added, ``You have to know the water. You have to know it to be able to respond as quickly as you can.''
It has been a tough summer for lifeguards on the Outer Banks. Heavy surf and high winds have made a difficult job even more dangerous.
But here, they say, is where their greatest victories have come.
``I was up at Duck, and we had one victim about 150 yards out and three victims about 200 yards out,'' O'Neill said. ``Once I got to the one at the 150 mark, and I found out he was OK, I went on to the other three and got them.''
Welch had a similar experience with a father and his three children. ``They were all crying and telling each other, `I love you,' '' Welch said. ``They thought they were going to die. I got them on a buoy and got them to relax. By the time we got to the beach, they were laughing.
``That's better than any championship.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo courtesy of Bob Gabriel
Ann Marie Welch of Nags Head and Chris O'Neill of Manteo
distinguished themselves in the U.S. Lifeguard Association National
Championships last month.
by CNB