It was one of the busiest days of the season so far. Around the lifeguard stand crowded bright clusters of beach umbrellas, where beachgoers took shelter from the harsh sunlight and dozens of children from local summer camps splashed and yelled in the water.
It was Monday night, and Iron Pier was packed with residents who had flocked to the beach to escape the heat and suffocating humidity.
Even as the sun sank lower in the sky, the crowd did not thin. The beach’s lifeguards typically are off duty at 5 p.m., but the beach was open till 7 that evening for swimming lessons. So two senior lifeguards were still at the beach when, just after six o’clock, a teenager’s cries for help carried over the water.
“There was a kid out way over his head, and he started yelling and flailing,” said Johanna Imwalle, a lifeguard who was giving a swimming lesson that evening.
Imwalle immediately sprang into action. Leaving her student on the beach, she swam out to the boy. John Vail, another senior lifeguard who had been on the stand, followed close behind.
“I thought he might have been joking at first,” Vail said. “But it quickly became clear that he wasn’t.”
As soon as Imwalle reached the flailing swimmer, Vail appeared right behind her with a rescue tube. Together, they helped the teenager onto the tube and swam him safely back to shore.
“This is the best rescue I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Ray Coyne, director of the town parks and recreation department. “This kid would have gone under if these lifeguards weren’t there.”
And they wouldn’t have been, had it not been for the swimming lesson Monday evening, when the save occurred. Iron Pier doesn’t have lifeguards after 5 o’clock. “It was very fortunate they were still there,” said Liz Flood, who manages the town’s beaches. “They executed the save perfectly.”
Both Vail and Imwalle spoke modestly about the incident. “It’s just what we’re trained to do,” Imwalle said.
They are both senior lifeguards who have made many saves in the past. Vail has been lifeguarding for the town for six years; Imwalle, a teacher who has spent 20 years lifeguarding over the summer, saved another boy in May after his sister pushed him underwater.
“People have to make sure that they know how to swim and that their family knows how to swim,” Imwalle said. “The town offers swimming lessons. Take advantage of them.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly misspelled the name of Liz Flood, town beach manager.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.