10 Drownings In A Month Prompts Calls For Change At NJ Beaches, Lakes

NEW JERSEY — It is an annual problem: the first burst of summery weather after months of gloomy winter weather sends people flocking to the beaches and, often, into the water to cool off.

That desire to embrace summer brings with it serious risks, however, that can lead to tragedy, especially for those who do not heed the safety warning repeated almost daily every beach season: Don't swim where there are no lifeguards on duty.

That has been the common thread in a string of drownings that have happened in the first few weeks of the 2022 summer season: Of 10 deaths, eight happened when people were swimming at unguarded beaches.

From Sunday through Tuesday, four people drowned: two swimmers at a Morris County lake; a woman at Island Beach State Park Monday and a young man in Belmar, also on Monday. Before that, a man drowned at an Ocean County lake, and three swimmers in the Wildwood area have drowned in two weeks. And the death toll could have been higher; in at least three instances, other swimmers who were in distress were rescued.

The other two deaths were brothers in Bayonne who drowned in a school swimming pool, the only instance where lifeguards were on-duty, authorities said.

The deaths have a Monmouth County assemblyman calling for water safety instruction to be added as a mandatory element of the state Department of Education health and physical education curriculum.

"Everyone needs to know how to swim or at a minimum, know what not to do," Assemblyman Sean Kean (R-30), told News 12 New Jersey.

"You can talk until you're blue in face, the average person doesn't understand how dangerous Mother Nature can be," said Jay Boyd, chief of the Seaside Heights Beach Patrol, which patrols one of the busiest beaches in the state. People are uneducated about rip currents, and they don't understand how quickly your muscles will tire when the water temperatures are 60 degrees or colder, he said.

"All it takes is swimming in the wrong area, and you step in a hole and don't know how to get out," Boyd said.

If the beach isn't staffed, rescuers have to go pick up their gear, which can mean several minutes before help arrives. Those minutes can be costly.

Which beaches have lifeguards when? Check the 2022 Jersey Shore Beach Guide: Beach Badges And Parking

On Monday, Elizabeth Treharne of Toms River disappeared while swimming at area A22 at Island Beach State Park. The spot is the next-to-the-last drive-on access points for sportfishing before the park's tip at Barnegat Inlet. Even if lifeguards had been on duty — Island Beach State Park begins staffing its swimming areas seven days a week starting Saturday — they would have been nowhere near where Treharne was in the water. Read more: Woman Who Drowned At Island Beach State Park Identified: Report

In Belmar, a North Jersey man in his 20s who drowned was among 10 swimmers who got caught in a rip current at the 8th Avenue beach. Lifeguards were in the area doing some of their summer setup but were not officially on duty at the time, authorities said. Read more: Swimmer Drowns Off Belmar Monday Afternoon

At Sunset Lake in Morris County on Tuesday, a 17-year-old and a 22-year-old, both Hispanic males, drowned when they went into the water at the sand pits at Mine Hill Beach, authorities said. Swimming is prohibited at the beach as there are no lifeguards on duty, NJ.com reported. Read more: Teen, Man Drown In North Jersey Lake: Officials

At Harry Wright Lake in Manchester, Santos Chacon-Hernandez, 35, of Lakewood, died June 7 after he and two other men got tired while trying to swim across the lake. The other two men were rescued, police said. Swimming across the lake is banned completely, and swimming is not permitted when there are no lifeguards present, and they don't begin staffing the beach for another week. Read more: Man Pulled From Harry Wright Lake Dies: Manchester Police

In Wildwood, Alfred Williams, 19, of Drexel Hill, PA, drowned when he and three other swimmers got caught in a rip current on May 31 while the beach was unguarded; two were rescued and the third made it safely to shore, officials said. Read more: Missing Wildwood Swimmer Identified As PA Man: Police

In Wildwood Crest, Joel Green, 53, of Johnstown, PA, died June 7 despite efforts of other swimmers who gave him CPR, police said. Lifeguards are not yet on duty there, authorities said. Read more: Beachgoer Drowns Near NJ Beach, Police Say

On June 8, Williams Pathy, 45, of Hillsdale, drowned, Wildwood police said. He was found unconscious and unresponsive floating in the water about 100 yards from the shore shortly before 5:30 p.m. and again, no lifeguards were on duty. Read more: Man Drowns Off Coast Of Wildwood Beach, 3rd In 2 Weeks

Swimming risks aren't limited to the beaches, however. Lifeguards were on duty and tried to rescue two brothers who drowned in a school's pool in Bayonne on June 8. The circumstances that led up to their deaths were under investigation. Read more: NJ Teen Brothers Drown In School Swimming Pool: Officials

And that is why Kean believes mandatory water safety education, as outlined in Bill A618 that he introduced earlier this year, is critical.

"This bill ... is really aimed at making parents and guardians more aware of the risks of drowning and the importance of swim lessons," Kean said in a YouTube video promoting the bill. It would require school districts to make sure students knew how to properly use flotation devices and how to read the water conditions, as well as what to do if they get caught in a rip current.

Joe Oehme of New Jersey Swim Schools Inc., which teaches swimming lessons to people from infancy to their 80s, told News 12 the bill could help bridge the gap for people who don't have easy access to water safety programs.

With 130 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches and the density of New Jersey's population, it's only natural that people are going to go to the beach, Boyd, of Seaside Heights, said.

"You have to expect people to take advantage of the water at a certain point," Boyd said. Seaside Heights staffs its beaches seven days a week beginning Memorial Day weekend and that continues past Labor Day, then drops down to weekends until the end of September. But he acknowledges that Seaside Heights is an outlier. "Our town fathers are really supportive," Boyd said.

Lifeguards take up their posts seven days a week at most Jersey Shore beaches beginning Saturday, but even then, there will be people who try to cool off in the waves after hours.

Boyd — and lifeguards up and down the Shore — hope people will listen and not take the chance of endangering themselves.

"It can happen in a matter of seconds," he said.

Read more about rip currents, which led to multiple rescues and two deaths last fall, after Labor Day: More Than 20 Jersey Shore Beach Rescues Strain Responders

Read also: Rip Currents: What To Look For, How To Survive Them