Rehoboth Beach continued their dominance and did not relinquish their grasp on a now 11-year stranglehold on the championship crown at their 26th Annual Rehoboth Beach Patrol Lifeguard Olympics.

The beach patrol from Rehoboth Beach edged second-place Ocean City, Md. by a mere five points, 78-73, and took top honors in four of the 11 events.

Sea Colony's Steve O'Boyle continued his strong showings in the lifeguard competition series for the summer of 2003, with a second-place finish in the mile run and took the gold in the half-mile paddle. Fellow Sea Colony guard Kristina MacLeish finished third in the half-mile swim as her patrol placed in five of the 11 events en route to third overall with 54 total points. They rung up another first place finish in the Iron-Man medley.

The vaunted tug-of-war -- arguably the most celebrated event of the Rehoboth Beach competition -- was won by the crew from Ocean City, Md., who defeated South Bethany in the finals. Sea Colony took third place in that event.

Local beach patrols Bethany Beach and Middlesex also had strong showings. Middlesex scored a first-place victory in the run-swim-run relay to go along with one second-place and two third-place finishes. Bethany Beach's guards, who typically excel in running events, not surprisingly took second in the 4-x-220-meter race and third in the run-swim-run.

Other lifeguard crews participating in the Rehoboth Olympics in order of overall finish included: Dewey Beach Patrol (41 points), Middlesex (35), South Bethany (27), Bethany Beach (19) and Delaware State Parks (14).

Top-three finishers in each event were:

Landline: 1. Kent Buckson, Logan Short, Sara Love and Dave Dillehay (RBP), 2. Matt Utley, Fran Boyle, Alex Hense and Lisa McCreary (DBP), 3. John Milton, Justin Maynard, Bobby Frey and Dans Furdell (OC).

Mile Run: 1. Darryl Lee (OC), 2. Steve O'Boyle (SC), 3. Graham Dunn (DBP).

Half-Mile Swim: 1. Dave Dillehay (RBP), 2. Fran Boyle (DBP), 3. Kristina MacLeish (SC).

Half-Mile Paddle: 1. Steve O'Boyle (SC), 2. Rob Luksic (RBP), 3. John Keltz (MS).

Paddle Rescue Race: 1. Kevin Weisenborn and Rob Payne (OC), 2. Jason McKay and Dave Dillehay (RBP), 3. Colin Crandell and Brent Rademacher (MS).

Ironman Medley: 1. Sea Colony, 2. Rehoboth Beach Patrol, 3. Ocean City, Md.

4-x-220 Relay: 1. Derek Shockro, Troy Bockius, Dan Matta and A.J. Hemphill (RBP), 2. Randy VanderHook, Brian Benner, Eric Heidenberger and Christian Sears (BB), 3. Shean Norman, Steve Michalos, Justin Maynard and Ryan Andrews (OC).

Run-Swim-Run Relay: 1. Jeff Horner, Chris Adams, Devon Scanlon and Colin Crandell (MS), 2. Bobby Frey, Robert Payne, Kevin Weisenborn and Matt Zuiderhof (OC), 3. Alex Heidenberger, Brad Clark, Matt DuShuttle and Derek Pizarro (BB).

Beach Flags: 1. Dan Matta (RBP), 2. Tom Humfrey (DBP), 3. Vince Bates (SB).

Iron-Man: 1. Rob Payne (OC), 2. Brent Rademacher (MS), 3. Jason McKay (RBP).

Tug-of-War: 1. Ocean City, Md., 2. South Bethany, 3. Sea Colony.

Reach S. Wayne Carter Jr. at (302) 537-1881, ext. 105, or by e-mail at mailto:wcarter@smgpo.gannett.com

Originally published Wednesday, July 30, 2003