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OCBP Crew Chief Kevin Johnson: the new old guy on the job
By Tony RussoJuly 20, 20164 min read
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Friends hanging out on the 39th Street Beach. For people who spend the whole summer in Ocean City, staking out a regular place is pretty common.
Moving up the ranks in the Ocean City Beach Patrol
It didn’t take Kevin too long to realize that he wanted to move up in the beach patrol. He was substitute teaching off season and in season he thought he had more to contribute. Taking on more responsibility for a job that already comes with life and death decisions isn’t something he went into lightly, but it was something he felt he was ready for. He not only wanted to contribute more to the OCBP, but knew that he could be helpful in cultivating crews for the coming generations. When he started as the crew chief of crew one, down in the inlet, he had his chance to start affecting the OCBP’s big picture in small ways.
Samantha Snyder and Melissa Thornton riding the waves at the 39t Street Beach.
‘A different way of guarding’
Starting at the inlet and working your way north the character of the beach as well as that of the patrons begins to change. The inlet beaches tend to attract shorter term guests. Day trippers and weekenders, people who may be less familiar with Ocean City or who may visit less regularly. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but as broad stoke descriptions go, it is close to the mark. Moving north, the blend changes. The proportion of people who are there for the week or two or even for the entire summer flips. Lifeguards get to know the people on the beach in a different kind of way. The intellectual requirements are different. At the Inlet, there are more general questions and more of them. As you move uptown, the relationship between the guards and the patrons changes to one that is based on longer term interactions. The training for each, though informs the way guards respond. Kevin said keeping interactions friendly, accurate and brief while scanning the water is something that is ingrained as part of the OCBP training. “You learn to answer any questions beach patrons have keeping your eye on the beach,” he said. “During the academy, it is reinforced, ‘Eyes on the water.’”
In the heard of the Crew Seven area of responsibility.
Keeping in Shape
This is the last year Kevin will be a 20-something crew chief. Looking 30 in the face, he knows that the physical part of the job is the challenge he will have to rise to every year for the rest of the time he works for the OCPB. “The job keeps me young, we’re working out all the time,” he said. “It does get a little harder.” Hanging out with the younger people doesn’t just help keep him young, it also wakes his competitive urges. After 11 years he still is one of the top swimmers on the patrol, and he expects to keep it that way by keeping in shape during the off season. But in the middle of July, the off-season seems a million years away.About Tony Russo
Tony Russo has worked as a print and digital journalist for the better part of the 21st century, writing for and editing regional weeklies and dailies before joining the team that produces OceanCity.com and ShoreCraftBeer.com among other destination websites. In addition to having documented everything from zoning changes to art movements on the Delmarva Peninsula, Tony has written two books on beer for the History Press. Eastern Shore Beer was published in 2014 and Delaware Beer in 2016. He lives in Delmar, Md. with his wife Kelly and the only of his four daughters who hasn't moved out. Together they keep their two dogs comfortable.
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