[wind blowing through grass] [wind blowing through grass] [bird chirping] [wind blowing through grass] [waves crashing] [birds chirping] [waves crashing in distance] [engine humming] [gravel crunches] [axle squeaks] [engine humming] [seagulls cackle] [waves crashing in distance] -A lot of people talk about sharks, when you go to the ocean are there sharks here?

[waves crashing in distance] Out of our 300, 400 rescues, we perform over the year, we haven’t had one that's had to do with a shark or a shark attack.

Hopefully that continues.

But rip currents are dangerous.

85% of our rescues are caused by rip currents.

[waves crashing] -On the beach you have a sandbar now a rip current is a divot like a big trench in that sandbar, and is a funnel for all the excess water coming from waves that go out to sea.

-And when someone gets caught in em our guards know how to go in, rescue them, come back to shore and go right back to work.

[guitar riff] -So the worst thing you can do as a lifeguard is swim right back through the rip.

-Rookie class is just a fast track to what you need to know -When they hear lost kids people that are sitting five feet away from you know what's going on.

If somebody's yells, shark!

[chuckling] Everyone on the beach is gonna be like, oh my god there’s a shark!

And now they're on social media and I have the governor calling me saying, hey, what's the deal?

Why is everyone freaking out on Hampton Beach?

-They're going to get you used to the cold water, Get you used to what you're going to be doing in work out.

Teach you about what codes we’re going to be calling, what violations we're going to be looking out for.

Basic water safety, rip knowledge just anything you're going to need for the job.

-When we dive under surf, we dive early, and we dive deep.

The more organized we are out there, the closer you guys listen to what I tell you, the faster we get out of the water, alright?

-The first time that a rookie lifeguard swims in deep surf cannot be during their first rescue.

We have to get them exposed to it and comfortable with it beforehand.

-Go ahead.

♪♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪♪ ♪♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪♪ -Yeah, they're not looking hot.

-What is she doing?

-I think she’s helping him.

[woman sighs] -Okay?

[woman laughs] -They’re getting pulled out in the rip too, look at them getting pulled away!

-The ocean doesn't care that you’re cold, the ocean doesn't care that you're tired.

The ocean doesn't care that you're scared because the waves are big.

You need to use the information that we provided to get out there and make the rescue.

A lot of the times, as soon as that first wave hits them, all of that goes out the window.

-Who's-- Oh did somebody lose a torp?

-Ohhh, no!

-Who lost a torp?

-Someone’s in trouble!

-Who did that?

[waves crashing] [indistinct chatter] -So, so here's the thing, we have a rip right there but look right in between this wall.

See out there?

That right there is also a little bit of a rip.

-See how like the rip goes out, but then it has another feeder coming in from, like, right in front of the seashell building?

So you got caught in that.

What we all should have done, to be completely honest.

Instead of running right here, you should have ran over there.

You should have entered about 25, 30, 40 yards that way, if you entered over there, you're going to take that rip and it's going to blow you right out, you're gonna do barely any swimming.

You're not going to take that water to the face.

You're not going to take those extra white caps right there.

-Yeah, oh he got in his place.

[woman chuckles] -He got in his place.

[waves crashing in distance] -Yes.

[indistinct chatter] -I have, I've gotten the nickname Buff Mully.

[Buff Mully chuckles] -Long hair, look like Mully, like to paddle, and I may just be a little bit buffer.

-Look at Buff Mully, killin’ it.

[laughing] -Can’t deny.

-This is my third year you know, I know how things work around here a little bit.

You know, we get this rookie here, you know, big kid, you know, long kind of blond hair like me everyone started calling him Buff Mully.

-I mean when I came in, Mully really did take me under his wing a little bit and really helped me get up to full paddle speed just because I came in with, paddle muscles necessary for, like, surfing, I'm a full time surfer, and that difference between surfing and then just the paddling, I was really able to refine my technique and just get a lot faster.

[waves crashing] -You know, every morning we go out we do a little paddle, we get some waves on the boards.

[ocean churning] -He's a prodigy for sure.

It's how you circle the buoys, is how you’re gonna win the races.

-Yeah, yeah.

-He just answered so many questions like how to be first to the buoy, how then to the water, all that stuff.

That was a really big help and I would say it's by far my favorite event.

-With the prone entries you’re basically running and transferring that running into the prone because you cannot really paddle prone, from, you know, from a very slow position because you need a lot of momentum in order to, you know have the prone working.

All about that core strength man.

[water churning] [water splashes] -Nice dude!

I love the kid, he's, he's, he's the man.

[laughter] -I've seen so many friendships spun from this job, and that's because we spend so much time together.

Whether it's being on post together or competing in workouts to try to best one another, the bonds that you make at this job really do transcend just the job, and I feel like there's no stronger example of the bonds that we've created through the season than the New England life saving competitions.

All of the beaches coming together across New England to compete, whether it's running, swimming or paddling or a combination of those three.

It's such an amazing day because it brings us, as a New Hampshire State Beach Patrol so much closer together.

It's one of my favorite times of the year, it's just so much fun.

[waves crashing] ♪♪ -In high school, I was never a great athlete.

I was never coordinated.

You know, I ran track here and there, I’d do water polo here and there but here, I personally have found that paddling is something that I'm good at, something that I really love.

It's something that I can really invest time into it and I can, like, be proud of you know?

For the first time for me and for a lot of people here, like they are an athlete, that is an essential part of an operation, which in a lot of other scenarios, they wouldn't be.

♪♪ [faintly] -Alright paddlers.

♪♪ On your marks, ♪♪ get set, [tense music builds up] ♪♪ [whistle blows] ♪♪ [shouting] -Let’s go Mully!

♪♪ ♪♪ [cheering] -I’m just gonna be straight up with you here, I don't care about comps.

I think keeping people safe is important.

Comps is a great thing, but at the end of the day, you could win every trophy in the world, and if you don't save that one person, you don't do your job in that one instant, it doesn't matter.

[plastic clunking] -There you go.

[indistinct chatter] [children shouting] [waves crashing] [plastic clicks] -Oh?

-Almost, perfect.

[waves splashing] -Yeah, that's the thing people don't realize that.

That's still a heavy freaking piece of wood.

[indistinct shouting] [wind blowing softly] -This is an extremely popular place.

Millions of people touch the sand every year.

And that doesn't stop at 5:30.

That really makes it tough to leave here some of the closest rescues I've ever had to drownings have come right at the end of the day, when I'm about to leave to go home for the night.

And it just keeps you thinking.

-No way.

[laughter] -It’s there on the left.

It's so fun.

-We surfed until, like, around sundown, it was just Kirby and I, and I heard some people, like, start to, like, scream and there was one female who was, like, closer to shore, and then one male who was farther out, and he was the one that, I was initially concerned about.

He absolutely could not swim and was over his head.

It was definitely scary, like watching him like, go under water.

I just remember, like, paddling as hard as I could and thinking to myself, Holy shit, like, we're going to be doing CPR on the beach.

Like he's not going to come up.

He put his arm out, he went under and had his arm out.

And that honestly was like really helpful for, helpful for me because I like could see exactly where he was, paddled to him and then scooped him up and got him on my board.

He ended up getting checked out by Hampton Fire, and they ended up transporting him.

It's really rough when when somebody's like a perfectly healthy human being and they go in into an environment that they feel safe and comfortable, and in reality, it's not, it is, it's a huge, it's a huge hit to like your psyche a little bit.

-It was very scary to just see someone going under and feeling so far away, but doing like, everything you can to get there on time.

-Some of those really rough rescues, some of the really intense rescues, they stick with you, they follow you home.

-I've never, like, been that close to something so bad.

And it sucks because it's like, oh, it's the constant debate of like, what, when can we go home?

Like, what is the right call to make?

-Am I going to have to go back later?

Like, did I make the right choice?

Is everyone going to stay safe when I'm gone?

And that's something that you have to grapple with all the time.

-We had every right to go home like there was no one on the beach.

And, like, just because like, we were like, oh, like, we'll just go for a quick surf like it happened to, like, work out perfectly.

-You can't get stuck in the mindset that you can save everyone, there are things that are out of your control ultimately no matter what, but it's something that it you can cope with, especially if you have a good team around you.

It really brings a group of 80 plus lifeguards together as a tight knit unit.

-Knowing that you're making a difference and helping and, protecting the water in a way that, like so few people can.

It's just like it's, it's worth so much to me.

It's worth so much to everyone on this crew and like, I'm so happy that we get to do it and we can do it.

[wind blowing] [indistinct chatter] -Please be careful what you say over the radio.

Everybody can hear what we say.

People are more heightened about sharks and we've had about 70 rescues of rip currents.

It stopped raining.

It's time to go, and you gotta be focused the entire day.

One, two, three, four, go.

[counting off] 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.... [inaudible] ...go!

[indistinct chatter] ♪♪ -Us being in shape is essential to our job we can't do our job if we're not in shape.

The state is paying us to use our bodies to use our athleticism in order to save lives and that's really what it comes down to here lifeguarding is life or death.

♪♪ [seabirds chirping] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [waves crashing in distance] [clapping and cheering] [faintly] -Come here, come here [waves crashing] -Correct flags, first aid kits, cords, everything, guys.

We fail as a team, we succeed as a team.

Okay?

We are a team here.

Every success we have is everybody.

Every rescue we have is everybody.

Okay?

You need help, you need something, you ask.

We are 100% a team, we got that?

We do it together.

We're a family.

You guys are doing a great job, keep it up.

The sun's coming out, it's going to get busy.

It's time to rock and roll, let's go.

[clapping] -We'll work on that today we're on time.

We're going to get it done alright?

-You can't get complacent.

Days can be long, slow, tiring.

There could be 100,000 people on the beach or there could be 20, but at any moment, something can change.

There's no time to think.

It's time to react.

It can hit like that.

[fingers snap] [indistinct announcement on speaker] [waves crashing] [child shouts] [waves crashing] [child shouts] [waves crashing in distance] [suspenseful music] [loud splash] [ringing] [heart beating rapidly] [camera clicking] [indistinct chatter] [water churning] -Where’s the pilot?

[indistinct chatter] -Hey, if you're not here then you’re out.

-Are you the only one from the plane?

-Aiden you gotta clear post ten.

You got to clear the hearts out on post ten.

♪♪ -Hey I need, I need swimmers.

♪♪ We're going to try to get the plane to shore.

♪♪ -No, I need more, I need-- ♪♪ -One second.

♪♪ -Can you go on this side?

[indistinct chatter] ♪♪ [cheering] [water churning] [indistinct radio chatter] [water pours] -Hopped out the side.

-Yeah?

-Came out under the wing.

-He seems to be, like, completely fine which is kind of kind of crazy.

Didn't hit his head.

[indistinct chatter] -A little more push on this side -What happened today?

Something happened today?

-You guys wanted to do this interview at 11:45, so we were getting ready to sit down, and we all saw a low flying plane that entered the ocean.

So we sprinted out of here and went to start helping people make the rescue.

For a plane to crash and have very minor injuries on the pilot, the planes out of the water, every patron that was on the beach is safe, that's a win from the New Hampshire State Beach Patrol ocean lifeguard to the Hampton Fire, Hampton PD.

Everybody, that's just a huge success.

Honestly, never thought it would really happen, but it did.

And when something like that happens, it's how do you react.

Our guards reacted in an instant.

They were in the water, even us three in this room, we sprinted down and, Hayden and I were in the water within seconds.

It's really impressive, the crew we have, I'm just very grateful for everything everyone does, I really am.

As a chief I'm extremely proud of everyone but just as a just a person, a human like to have people that start at 16 years old.

Our oldest person I believe is in their 70s.

We have one guard who's been here 47 years, dedicated to this program.

Just proud and it showed today not-- no one hesitated today.

They just jumped in the water.

That plane hit, we're in.

-In the 2023 season these lifeguards have performed over 298 ocean rescues, putting their lives on the line for patrons they so diligently and selflessly serve.

Now therefore I, Christopher T Sununu, governor of the State of New Hampshire, do hereby commend ch-- Chief Patrick Murphy and the Hampton Beach Lifeguards, for another successful season.

[laughter] [applause] -This job is so much different than like I thought it was going to be.

-Yeah, everyone was telling me how it was going to be the best job.

The workouts and the team building just made me like, really feel like I was doing something.

-For whatever reason, the job really attracts a good group of people, -I would stay here 24/7 like if it meant that, like, I can help people out.

-It really does feel like a family as well.

It has given me like a second home.

-I've had so many different jobs in my life, and this is the one where it actually feels like family.

This is like my home.

-It's the best experience you’ll ever have.

I always tell that to everybody.

It's the best job you’ll ever have.

-I made some of the best friends in my life here, and those incredible best friends keep me back you know they're there for you.

People here have showed me how important it is to be part of something bigger than myself.

-Phenomenal, like minded people from all different walks of life.

-Through thick and thin we got each other's backs it’s awesome, so.

♪♪ [waves crashing] ♪♪