The sun came out Saturday, and so did swimmers, keeping lifeguards busy on some of the Shore’s beaches, where strong undertows appeared to be at work.
Water rescues were reported at beaches in Sea Bright, Lavallette and Seaside Heights.
Meanwhile, a child was flown by helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune as a precaution after being pulled from a swimming pool at the Sea Pirate Campground in Eagleswood, according to state police.
In Lavallette, lifeguards rescued three swimmers from the ocean after they became caught in a dangerous undertow, police said.
Officers John Ringo and Victoria Lamb were patrolling the beach at 11:47 a.m. when they spotted several swimmers in distress after being caught in the undertow, according to Sgt. Justin Lamb. Ringo summoned beach patrol Capt. Bob Tormollan, who arrived quickly with a group of lifeguards that was training nearby, Lamb said.
Tormollan and several of the lifeguards entered the ocean and were able to reach the three distressed swimmers, Lamb said. Lifeguards on the beach helped to pull everyone safely to shore with a rescue line, according to Lamb.
Lavallette First Aid, Squad 27, transported the three swimmers to Ocean Medical Center in Brick for observation. They were identified as Jeffrey Cowan, 26, of Secane, Pennsylvania, Steve Hirshenhorn, 60, of Maple Glenn, Pennsylvania, and Jack Schoepf, 18, of Lavallette.
In Sea Bright, firefighters and lifeguards swam out to rescue a man and a woman who were swept out into the ocean on an unguarded beach on Saturday.
The emergency workers were called about 4:30 p.m. to the unguarded beach adjacent to the 200 block of Ocean Avenue on reports that a man and a woman who had been swimming in the ocean there were pulled out by a rip current, said Chad Murphy, chief of administration for Sea Bright Fire Rescue.
The location is about a quarter-mile south of Sandy Hook, Murphy said.
Lifeguards on duty at the Sea Bright public beach some two miles south rode to the location, and firefighters from Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach and Sandy Hook fire departments were dispatched there.
Two Sea Bright firefighters and two Sea Bright lifeguards swam out and rescued the distressed swimmers, without incident, Murphy said.
The man and woman both declined medical attention, he said. Murphy said he did not have their identities.
The beach patrol in Seaside Heights reported being busy with rescues, as well as a large fight on the beach on Saturday afternoon, but provided no further details.
At the Sea Pirate Campground in the West Creek section of Eagleswood, a boy was pulled from a swimming pool, but was conscious and alert when police arrived, said Trooper Alina Spies of the New Jersey State Police. She said the boy was flown by a state police helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center as a precaution.
Another incident involving a child occurred on Long Beach Island, but police were referring inquiries to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, which did not respond to requests for details.
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