Shore Boy Wins National Junior Lifeguards Title

Belmont Shore's Aidan Johnson won the Junior Lifeguard National Championships in Cape May, New Jersey.

Aidan Johnson placed first in the Boys Distance Run while another Belmont Shore boy, Vincent Tosti, placed fifth in the Beach Flags competition.  The boys represented the Long Beach Lifeguard Association.

Two weeks before the national competition, Aidan and Vincent competed in the regional championships on July 22nd in Seal Beach.  Junior lifeguard competitors are between the ages of 9 and 17.  Both boys competed in “class C” where competitors are between the ages of 9 and 11.

In Aidan’s event, the distance run, all competitors had to run a kilometer (1,093 yards) down the beach.  About half a kilometer down the beach was a flag that marked when competitors needed to turn around and run back to the finish line.

During the regional tryouts Aidan finished in fourth.  On the day of the official run he came in first, an extraordinary feat given the fact that it was his first time to officially run in any type of race.  His first place finish allowed him to go into the national competition.

“I was blown away,” said Alec Johnson, Aidan’s father.  “This guy’s got some speed I didn’t know about.  My wife and I agreed that since he worked so hard at regionals, he deserved a chance to compete at nationals”.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Aidan said about going to nationals.  “I was proud to be in it but nervous at the same time”.

“I got a good lead in the beginning,” Aidan remembered.  “When I reached the flag I was twenty feet ahead of everyone else”.

Close to the finish line he heard splashing 50 feet behind which pushed him to speed up and finished first while maintaining his 20-foot lead over his 30 competitors.

The best equivalent of Vincent’s event, the beach flags competition, is musical chairs. All of the competitors begin on their stomachs facing away from a set of flags less than the number of competitors.  When the whistle blows all competitors get up as quickly as possible, run, and grab (or in some cases dive for) a flag.  Any competitor whom doesn’t have a flag is eliminated.

Vincent came in third during the regional competition and was allowed to go to nationals, where he placed in fifth place for the competition.

Although he placed fifth, he had beaten 40 other competitors placing him in the top tenth percentile for the competition.

Besides Junior Lifeguards, both boys went to the same school and were on the same Long Beach Minor B baseball team, the Minnesota Twins. 

So what will both boys do now?  Aidan will continue playing other sports like flag football, baseball, and he’ll be learning to surf in a few weeks, while Vincent is currently at camp.

“My friend’s dad has a really nice track club,” Aidan said.  “So I’m gonna practice with them to get ready for regionals and nationals”.

So where are his son's medals now? “His metals are in his bedroom.  Or at least I hope they are” he said.