Guarding the Beaches
Three generations of Shotwells are lifeguards
By TOM CARDINALE
For the Shotwells, guarding the beaches of Ocean Grove is a family affair.
Now, 57 years after David Shotwell Sr. began his lifeguard career and the Shotwell lifeguard legacy, three generations are together on one beach.
The summer of 1951 marked the beginning of the elder Shotwells lifeguard career. Only 15, Shotwell was a self-proclaimed “benny,” although he didn’t much appreciate the term, when he began his Ocean Grove lifeguard career. It wasn’t until 1956 that he became a full time resident, and guard.
Shotwell, now 72, has seen the atmosphere of Ocean Grove as well as the technology of life-guarding change drastically in his nearly six decades on the stand.
“There are significantly larger crowds now,” says Shotwell, “Ocean Grove expanded from two bathing beaches to four.”
While larger crowds may have made the job increasingly difficult, the advancements in lifesaving technology have more than compensated, he said.
“Since I started, a new rescue device, The Torpedo, has been introduced; we’ve become less dependent on lifelines, and rescue boards and jet skis have been introduced, he said.
The eldest Shotwell lifeguard hasn’t spent all of the past 57 years on the beach, however. He is a retired Neptune High School teacher. He also served as Administrative Officer of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, retiring earlier this year.
Shotwell calls his years of teaching through the winter and lifeguarding through the summer the, “best of both worlds.”
But, he admits, “You can’t beat being outside on the beach all day long and getting paid for it.”
It may be this attitude that influenced Shotwell’s three sons, David, Jr., James, and John to follow in their father’s footsteps.
Although all three are employed full time; David, Jr. is an attorney in Ocean Grove while James and John both work in the computer industry, they too have spent their summers as lifeguards on the same beach their father has patrolled for so many years.
David, Sr. says, “Our motto is lifeguards for life. Once you start you never give it up.”
All four Shotwell’s are also active in A.N.S.W.E.R., which is the Area Network Shore Water Emergency Response, a 12 month a year, 24 hour a day water rescue team for much of the Jersey Shore. This means that they are on call at all times and could be summoned for a rescue at any moment.
Although David Sr. has retired from the beach stand, he remains involved.
“My involvement from now on is reading books on the beach,” he laughs, “but I hope that will last for many years.”
Still, he calls his years lifeguarding very gratifying and says, The best part of lifeguarding is the opportunity to come to the aid of people in need and to keep people from danger.
He can rest assured that the Ocean Grove Beach Patrol is in good hands as his grandchildren, David III, 22, and Sarah, 17, have now joined the staff. When asked if the Shotwell legacy would continue for three more generations, the patriarch of this lifeguard family says, “I would hope so but it’s hard to predict. It’s a big part of the family though so it’s pretty safe to assume it will continue to be.”
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