Summer's No Day At Beach For Niebel

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – For most UNCW student-athletes, the summer months are a time to kick back, share stories with their families and enjoy a well-deserved break from the regimented routines of the school year.

Not Andrea "Tink" Niebel.

The rising senior from Emerald Isle, N.C., and freestyler on the UNCW women's swimming and diving team has spent the last two years as a member of the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue Team (WBOR), serving as a lifeline for locals and visitors who flock to the three-mile stretch of sand for fun and relaxation each summer.

"I do ocean rescue because of the lifestyle and the joy it brings me," said Niebel, who is majoring in supply chain management at UNCW's Cameron School of Business. "I enjoy and respect this profession. After my first summer, I decided that I wanted to do this forever. The friendships that I have developed are more than what I could have hoped for."

WBOR BEGINNINGS

WBOR has been around for many years, but transitioned into the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department in 2006. Sam Proffitt, associated with WBOR since 2000 and a captain with the team, oversees lifeguards who hold down the 13 stands that begin near Shell Island Resort and span the length of the beach to the south end of the island.

"The 1990s television show Baywatch probably did a lot of good and brought awareness to lifeguards," said Proffitt, a 2002 UNCW graduate. "Unfortunately, it's a lot different than that. What we run here is a very professional organization."

WBOR consists of nearly 65 dedicated full and part-time employees, ranging from UNCW students to battalion chiefs in the fire service to attorneys to physician's assistants. Each day, approximately 18 to 25 guards are stationed at the 20-foot tall white clapboard stands that reach to the blue skies.

The Baywatch myth portrays the position as a hero or heroine at the ready for action, on and off the beach. Show producers offered a muscle-bound lifeguard perched on a stand, often eating, frolicking and socializing. Nothing could be farther from the truth, said Proffitt.

"Every guard here has a minimum of 96 hours of EMS training on top of the two weeks of physical training for ocean rescue," Proffitt pointed out. "We have a lot of highly trained individuals on staff who are cross-trained as firefighters and can respond to emergency calls."

THE TRYOUTS

Niebel, who scored 18 points for the Seahawks at the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships, aced the annual tryouts for the second time in late April and early May. During the tryouts, applicants perform a battery of tests in swimming and running for the opportunity to begin a three-week academy.

Niebel said, "Being a member of the swim team helps me out immensely. We run morning practices in the summer. Taking part in practices and then coming out here for physical training is a big reason why I'm successful in this job. Swimming is a huge part of it. You have to be comfortable in the ocean and comfortable swimming. I'm thankful for being able to do both."

Niebel's demanding day starts with swim practice before daylight and a quick jaunt over the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge for WBOR physical training at 8:30 am. Following a one-hour workout, Neibel hops onto the stand with her rescue can, fins, medical kit and flags at 10 a.m., performing her duties until being called off at 5 p.m.

"Every day is different. You expect to do what you're trained to do. You can't hope for a chill day. You want to be ready to go out and make a rescue or do a minor or major medical. I try to keep myself on my toes and be ready to go in the blink of an eye. I expect the worst and hope for the best."

BUILT TO SAVE

The ultimate challenge – combining knowledge and skills - for any lifeguard is a rescue. Niebel has already made "five or six" saves this summer, requiring her to depend on thorough, professional training.

Proffitt said, "It takes a very mentally tough individual. You obviously have to be in good shape and be able to make rescues. You also have to understand the medical aspect of it as well. While a lifeguard might have a rescue or two, they will definitely have a handful of medical calls and some will be very major.

"You also have to have the ability to sit in a lifeguard's stand for eight hours a day and stay mentally engaged. It would be very easy for someone to sit up there, get their cell phone out and lose concentration, but we have a zero tolerance for those things. It is a very demanding day, both physically and mentally."

TOUGH MINDSET

Along with several bottles of sunscreen each season, Niebel said the position requires a mental and physical toughness that beachgoers underestimate.

"This job is very physically demanding," she added. "When you go out for a rescue, it's a life or death situation, depending on how fast you get there. You have to be mentally tough. There could be a day when you go in, pull someone out and then five minutes later you have another one. You have to be in shape for the job."

Take July 3, 2021, for instance.

"I was stationed at Johnny Mercer's pier last summer," she recalled. "We have strict surf zones and there were a couple surfers outside the surf zone. I grabbed my buoy and fins and started to swim out there. As I swam out, I heard someone yelling for help.

"I saw a family of six caught up in a strong rip current. I threw my buoy to the three kids and had the parents and another man on my arms. It all happened so fast. Thankfully, a wave pushed us in. By the time we got on the beach, we had a truck there and everyone there to help. The Calvary had arrived."

The exceptional rescue was not uncommon, according to Proffitt.

"We keep stats on everything we do, from rescues to medical calls to preventative actions. We do from 200 to 300 rescues each season from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

"We definitely have a lot of unique situations that occur, whether it's with boaters not making the best decisions or something else. Most of the rescues we perform here are rip current related. We are an island surrounded by two inlets. Swimmers consistently swim in those areas and they're extremely dangerous. They are difficult for us to protect and control."

COMPETITION TIME

Niebel recently returned from a regional lifeguard competition in Virginia Beach, where the United States Lifeguard Association (USLA) conducted unique skills tests to determine the top ocean rescue team in the southeast. The Wrightsville Beach squad repeated as champions, qualifying for the national competition scheduled for a few weeks from now in Los Angeles.

"We were hungry to go back and make Wrightsville proud," a determined Niebel said. "Seventeen teams from Virginia and Florida competed. We had two days of events. I've never seen anything like a lifeguard competition. It was a big team effort. We put in a lot of work and it paid off."

DANGER ZONE

Niebel has been stationed at every stand during her tenure with WBOR. Along with severe cases of sunburn, jellyfish stings and lightning strikes, she's seen about everything. Even with its timeless lure, America's favorite playground can be fraught with danger.

"The biggest concern on the beach is definitely rip currents. They can pop up in a second and suck you out. You're not going to beat a rip current. You can't panic and freak out. Always be educated on the ocean and what it can do to you.

"If you get caught in a rip current, the No. 1 thing is to not panic. Always swim parallel to the shore until you get pushed out of the rip current. You can roll over, float on your back and ride out the current. Odds are a lifeguard will see you and come out and grab you."

BALANCING ACT

When Niebel stores her whistle and beach supplies away for the summer, it will be time to return to campus and compete for the Seahawks and 2022 CAA Coach of the Year Bobby Guntoro.

"At the end of every season, Tink and I sit down and talk about what we can do to keep moving forward, with not only her swimming career, but life in general," said Guntoro. "Our team philosophy is to continue learning about priorities in life and learning life lessons through our daily activities.

"I know how much Tink values her involvement with WBOR, and I try my best to create the best training plan with WBOR work shifts, trainings, and competition schedules in mind. I learned that incorporating her training with the squad into our planning helps Tink to not only reach success, but create an enjoyable experience throughout summer.

"It's very challenging to excel in swimming and as a lifeguard. The only way to reach this is to manage time properly. Tink is fantastic at that. She has not missed a single practice in the pool and at WBOR. That says a lot about her dedication and discipline. I'm proud of the way she represents our program in the community."

Summer jobs for UNCW's student-athletes typically run the gamut from waiting tables to landscaping. Without hesitation, Niebel says she may have the perfect fit.

"It's the best job ever," Niebel beamed, "and an experience you'll never forget or regret."

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Summer's No Day At Beach For Niebel