A Lifeguard's Rite of Passage: The Oarlock Key

July 29, 2005 — -- In the "By the Boardwalk" series, ABCNEWS.com goes down the Jersey Shore each week to bring you another slice of beach life. In this week's installment we look at the experience of first year guards.

It was Tim Henderson's first day as a lifeguard at Bradley Beach in New Jersey, and the 18-year-old was excited to start a job where he could be active and have fun in the sun every day.

When the veteran guards asked him to go find the keys to the oarlocks, Henderson jumped off the lifeguard bench and trotted toward the neighboring stand, eager to please his new co-workers.

We don't have it, but the guards at the next stand south might, Henderson was told when he arrived.

He trotted off toward the next stand.

Hmmm. The next stand over just came and got them. I think they still have it, he was told by the next set of guards.

Henderson went trotting off to the next stand.

When lifeguard after lifeguard seemed stumped by the location of the keys and kept sending him farther and farther away, Henderson finally realized he had been duped.

"After I got to one stand and everyone started laughing, I just walked back," said Henderson who is now in his second year of lifegaurding.

Ah, the keys to the oarlock. The fictional objects bring smiles to the faces of lifeguards across the country, a whimsical reminder of their own rookie seasons on the beach and the innocent pranks pulled on first-year guards every summer.

Almost every lifeguard has spent fruitless hours hunting for the keys to the oarlock, 50 feet of "shoreline," the "jetty stretcher" or some other purported rescue tool that is just a wild goose chase.

Rookie pranks are practically a rite of passage into the lifeguarding fraternity, where the lighthearted atmosphere is a major reason that people return to the beach year after year. In addition, the pranks are key to bonding the guards together, and creating the atmosphere of teamwork that is essential when faced with a life-or-death rescue.

"It opens the rookies up and makes them relaxed," said Rob Johnson, 25. "If it's more relaxed, it's a better working environment."

When rookies aren't scouring the beaches for the line bucket spindle (on calm days of course; when it's rough they're on the stand watching the water), they can expect to be drilled in different rescue techniques and to learn from veteran guards how to spot rip currents.

They can also expect to carry most of the equipment, run over to instruct beach patrons who don't respond to the whistle and sometimes even practice their whistling skills at the end of the jetty.

"There is definitely the same hierarchy that you have on the team with the veterans and the new people," Henderson said. "Everyone goes through it, so it's not like they single anyone out."

Vinny Margiotta was one of the youngest guards at the beach his rookie year, making him the lowest of the low on the totem pole. But he said his experiences as a rookie, which ranged from searching for the infamous oar lock keys to talking to girls at the beach at the urging of older guards, helped him to become more confident and made him feel more like a part of the crew.

"The older guys come down on you hard, but later on you feel close to them because there is more communication," Margiotta, 19, said. "It's fun. It's harmless. It's just joking around."

While a lot of lifeguarding is about having fun and joking around, the underlying focus is always about saving lives. Check in next week for a more in-depth look at the lifesaving aspect of lifeguarding, including what guards go through when the unthinkable occurs.

Note: Jen Brown was a Bradley Beach lifeguard in a former life.