New event helps Ventnor to Dutch Hoffman win

By Guy Gargan, The Press of Atlantic City, Saturday, July 29, 2000

WILDWOOD - The 31st Dutch Hoffman Memorial Lifeguard Races team title Friday came down to the brand-new final race, the mixed doubles sprint row.

Jim McDevitt and Nancy Howarth rowed to a close win in the 1,000-foot event and kept the Ventnor Beach Patrol unbeaten streak alive this year.

McDevitt and Howarth scored a 5-second victory over Atlantic City’s John Ammerman and Kathy Boyce. Jim Wadlow and Patrice Back of Cape May were third. The sun was starting to go down at that point and most of the spectators on shore did not know for certain who had won.

Ventnor got five points with the sprint mixed doubles victory and won the six-race Hoffman Memorials with 16 points. Atlantic City received an expected win by John Kenny in the half-mile swim and ended up right behind with 15 points. The run-oriented North Wildwood Beach Patrol dominated the two-mile beach run and finished third overall with 11 points.

Rich Bostwick gave North Wildwood a first place in the run, and teammate Sean Mick took second. With the event scored like cross country, North Wildwood easily won the event with a low total of eight points.

“We heard about the new race over the winter, and Nancy and I started training for it then,” the 33-year-old McDevitt said. “We rowed in the spring and trained pretty well for it with runs and rows.”

Avalon and Cape May had 10 points apiece, but Avalon got fourth place due to South Jersey Chiefs Association tiebreaker: a higher finish in the doubles row. Avalon’s John Glomb and Craig Whitehead won the doubles in a mild upset over Ventnor’s Andrew Funk and David Funk.

Whitehead and Glomb, a new crew, crossed the finish line in 11 minutes, 28 seconds, and the Funks were timed in 11:29.

“This is only the second time we’ve been in the boat together in a competitive situation,” said the 28-year-old Glomb, the 1991 South Jersey Lifeguard singles row champion. “Craig won three South Jersey titles (with partner Mike Cras in 1991-93), but he was rowing bow. I’m bigger than him by about 15 pounds, and this is his first time in the stern. He did a great job.”

Kenny had a 30-yard lead as he approached the surf in the swim, and he won in 11:17. Mike Tripician of Ventnor edged Nick Macko of North Wildwood for second. Kenny, who won the Ocean City Biathlon (a swim-run) in 1997-99, later returned to finish 16th in the beach run and help A.C. to a third-place 39 team points.

“The run was in the back of my mind but I didn’t let it affect my swim,” Kenny said. “I do a lot of running in my cross-training.”

The rescue board race is still a bit of a novelty in the South Jersey Association, and Brigantine’s Sven Peltonen’s win Friday gave him an undefeated season. His other paddleboard wins were in Brigantine Bay Races and the Atlantic City Classic.

Peltonen is expanding his horizons this year by entering rowing races. Usually he competes at the United States Lifeguard Association National Championships, but instead this year he’ll stay and row for Brigantine in the South Jersey Championship singles row.

Carl Smallwood Jr. of Margate proved that his victory in the singles at Brigantine on July 11 was no fluke. Smallwood had a great row Friday and won by four boatlengths over Longport’s Nick Macko.

“I had a poor start but going out I tried to stay relaxed,” Smallwood said. “I went real hard coming in and got a little luck with the waves, that never hurts.”

TEAM SCORING

1. Ventnor, 16; 2. Atlantic City, 15; 3. North Wildwood, 11; 4. Avalon, 10; 5. Cape May, 10; 6. Longport, 7; 8. Margate, 7; 8. Brigantine, 5; 9. Stone Harbor, 4; 10. Ocean City, 3; 11. Wildwood, 1; 12. Wildwood Crest, 1; Upper Township, Sea Isle City, and Cape May Point did not score.

DOUBLES ROW

1. Avalon (John Glomb-Craig Whitehead) 11:28; 2. Ventnor (Andrew Funk-David Funk) 11:29; 3. Longport (Eric Funk-B.J. Fox) 11:45; 4. Atlantic City (Nick Bennett-Mike Doherty) 11:47; 5. Cape May (Kevin Murphy-Jim Wadlow) 11:48.

SWIM

1. John Kenny, Atlantic City, 11:17; 2. Mike Tripician, Ventnor, 12:14; 3. Nick Macko, North Wildwood, 12:15; 4. Geoff Rife, Cape May, 12:19; 5. Chris Gamble, Wildwood Crest, 12:22.

RESCUE BOARD

1. Sven Peltonen, Brigantine, 6:41; 2. Bob Cornell, Cape May, 6:55; 3. Lew Ostrander, North Wildwood, 7:01; 4. Brian Chojnacki, Ocean City, 7:03; 5. Reade Ware, Ventnor, 7:10.

SINGLES ROW

1. Carl Smallwood Jr., Margate, 4:23; 2. Nick Grasso, Longport, 4:41; 3. John Glomb, Avalon, 4:45; 4. Andrew Funk, Ventnor, 4:49; 5. Mike Alton, Atlantic City, 4:50.

TWO-MILE RUN

1. TEAM - 1. North Wildwood, 8; 2. Stone Harbor, 16; 3. Atlantic City, 39; 4. Avalon, 43; 5. Wildwood, 44. INDIVIDUALS - 1. Rich Bostwick, North Wildwood, 10:17; 2. Sean Mick, North Wildwood, 10:20; 3. Rob Lythgoe, Stone Harbor, 10:34; 4. Steve Long, Wildwood, 10:37; 5. John Garton, North Wildwood, 10:39.

MIXED DOUBLES SPRINT ROW

1. Ventnor (Jim McDevitt-Nancy Howarth) 4:38; 2. Atlantic City (John Ammerman-Kathy Boyce) 4:43; 3. Cape May (Jim Wadlow-Patrice Back) 4:47; 4. Margate (Ashton Funk-Debbie Crane) 4:49; 5. Ocean City (Dan Garbutt-Kristie Brown) 4:52.

© The Press of Atlantic City 2000. Reproduced with permission.