{"id":43778,"date":"2026-08-14T06:52:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43778"},"modified":"2026-08-14T06:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:52:33","slug":"five-ncaa-athletes-using-lifeguard-duty-in-oyster-bay-to-prep-for-college-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43778","title":{"rendered":"Five NCAA athletes using lifeguard duty in Oyster Bay to prep for college seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2Fnewspress-collage-1hidqgt1j-1786671478093.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261786657089\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>They\u2019re on the other side of the whistle now.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of Long Island swimmers owe their safety in the water to a group of top-tier college athletes who double as lifeguards while home for the summer \u2014 and the important aquatic gig is making them better at their sports.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cCommunication and a team base \u2014 you work together, and if there\u2019s a save, everyone\u2019s going together,\u201d Siena lacrosse attacker Patrick Radomski told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach person has a job, just like playing a sport. Everyone works together, and we all want the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Radomski works at pools across the Town of Oyster Bay with fellow star-caliber talent in UConn cheerleader Charlotte McKelvey, SUNY Oswego swimmer Allison Priestley, soon-to-be UMass freshman lacrosse player Tyler Byrnes and Cassidy Morrow of the Siena women\u2019s lax team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLearning how to perform under pressure is a big part of it,\u201d Morrow said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt school, we practice every day for hours just to prepare for a game. It\u2019s the same thing here when we practice our drills, CPR and are getting ready to potentially save someone\u2019s life,\u201d added the sophomore attacker.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>To the rescue<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Priestley has already had a hero moment she\u2019ll never forget while working at a Plainview pool.<\/p>\n<p>A little boy errantly jumped off a diving board and suddenly started struggling with water up his nose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI jumped off the stand, dove in and got him to the side,\u201d she recalled of the \u201cnerve-racking\u201d moment. \u201cIt was unexpected. It was scary, but he was OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Farmingdale-born swimmer was also relieved to know her colleagues were at the ready to support her in the crucial moment, which McKelvey said helps everyone in high-intensity situations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Lifeguards Patrick Radomski, Cassidy Morrow, Allison Priestley, Charlotte McKelvey and Tyler Byrnes pose for a portrait at Tobay Beach on Aug. 12, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Heather Khalifa for New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very much a family environment. Everyone\u2019s friends; we don\u2019t really get sick of each other. We actually hang out after work and stuff,\u201d she added while at the town\u2019s crown jewel of Tobay Beach, a popular spot for lifeguards on and off duty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like even though our job is serious, we do find ways to make it fun and enjoy everybody\u2019s company.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Diving in headfirst<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The fantastic five also use their summer jobs to stay in top training shape for when they return to campus in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt keeps you in shape with swimming and everything,\u201d attacker Byrnes said. \u201cI try to swim at least three times a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Tyler Byrnes walks towards the ocean at Tobay Beach on Aug. 12, 2026. Byrnes is one of several athletes in college who works as a lifeguard while home on Long Island for the summer. <span class=\"credit\">Heather Khalifa for New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, Morrow makes sure to get plenty of reps in the water daily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThirty-two laps is about half a mile, so I try to do that once a day just to get some extra endurance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>McKelvey also credits her grueling daily laps to \u201ca lot of endurance\u201d that translates well on the sidelines and baselines at UConn, like when she cheered at the Women\u2019s Final Four.<\/p>\n<p>That and fighting through some sweltering temperatures \u2014 especially the July heatwave that brought temperatures above 100 degrees for multiple days on the island.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Lifeguards Tyler Byrnes, Patrick Radomski, Charlotte McKelvey, Allison Priestley and Cassidy Morrow go for a dip in the ocean at Tobay Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026.  <span class=\"credit\">Heather Khalifa for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cFor football, we\u2019re outside for four or five hours cheering and jumping around and stunting and tumbling in the heat,\u201d the junior said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt definitely gets you ready for that,\u201d added McKelvey, who, like her peers, often misses Long Island shores while back on campus.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They\u2019re on the other side of the whistle now. Thousands of Long Island swimmers owe their safety in the water to a group of top-tier college athletes who double as lifeguards while home for the summer \u2014 and the important aquatic gig is making them better at their sports. \u201cCommunication and a team base \u2014&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/newspress-collage-1hidqgt1j-1786671478093.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1786657089&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}