BRADLEY BEACH TAKES INDEPENDENCE ROW EVENT-By Len Bardsley
Steve Grober and Matt Nunnally, representing Bradley Beach, take their boat through the surf on Friday, During the Indepedence Row in Manasquan. Grober and Nunnally won the seven-mile event which ended in Stockton Lake.
MANASQUAN — You could say Matt Nunnally has the perfect job when it comes to being a competitive lifeguard in the summer.
The 37-year-old from Avon, who has been a Bradley Beach lifeguard for 22 years, is the head coach of the LaSalle University swim team.
It is not surprising that Nunnally is one of the top competitive lifeguards in the country.
On Friday, Nunnally won the Independence Row, a 7-mile rowing competition in Manasquan.
Nunnally and his partner, Steve Grober, edged Paul Elyseev and Jack Green of Ocean Grove, along the course that ran a mile off Sea Watch beach, south to the inlet, through Glimmer Glass and eventually into Stockton Lake.
“I like to get in as many rows as I can,’’ said Nunnally. “Rowing is fun, the preparation is mainly for the National Championships in South Carolina in August.’’
The Independence Row is one of 10 races the Jersey Shore Rowing Association has put together as part of a racing series.
Nunnally, like many of the competitors on Friday, trains all year for rowing competitions with the main focus being the national championships.
“This is good,’’ said Nunnally of the Independence Row. “It is nice and early in the summer and it gets you racing a little bit. We have been training all year so it is nice to get out here and compete.’’
The wind created some challenges for the rowers at the start of the race, working their way through some rough water created by the winds.
It was smooth, steady rowing once they hit the inlet.
“It was nice and flat in the inlet,’’ said Nunnally. “It was a little rough in the ocean with the southeast wind and there was a little chop. It made it a little bumpy the first half of the race, but the second half you could really get into an aerobic-type workout.’’
It was the first win of the rowing series season for Nunnally and Grober.
Dave Healy and his partner Warren Townes won the first two races, the Shrewsbury Cup and the Shark River Cup.
Healy, who is the defending national champion along with Townes, is the president of the Jersey Shore Rowing Association.
The motivation of starting the Jersey Shore Rowing Association was to try to help rowers train and compete, while pushing the sport.
“We wanted to formalize the brotherhood we had,’’ said Healy. “We really want to help promote the sport and get some of the younger people involved. We wanted to put together a race series and prepare for the national events.’’
The 47-year-old Healy, who is a former lifeguard and lives in Shark River Hills, rows all year.
He had been getting together with a group of rowers, training in the early-morning hours during the winter and going out to a well-earned breakfast following the training.
It was during these breakfasts that Healy got the idea of the Jersey Shore Rowing Association.
“We are trying to introduce the sport to more lifeguards,’’ said Healy. “When I started guys were fighting for boats on the beach. Now I guess it is too much work.’’
There are rowing competitions as part of all lifeguard events, so every beach has a boat available to use for training.
The Jersey Shore Rowing Association can introduce aspiring rowers to using the 19-foot, 300-pound self-bailing boats, that are used on the national level.
The self-bailing boats have holes in the sides that allow water to escape when the boat takes on water going through high waves or choppy surf.
“The association encourages us to train together,’’ said Healy. “We train all year for guys or age to be competitive. A lot of it is experience and know-how. A lot of it is training, lots and lots of training.
