(Editor’s Note: The following is a series on the men and women who have spent their summers protecting all those who came to Ocean City for fun and safe vacation.)
OCEAN CITY — A lot of people daydream about living and working in Ocean City for at least one cool summer. Most people, however, don’t follow up on the dream. Hans Ruppenthal was not most people.
In 1985, while he was attending college at Towson, Hans came to the conclusion that this was exactly what he was going to do. He had talked the plan over with his long-time friend Rich Rosche. Together, they were going to “live and work in OC one summer before Rich went in the military in the fall.” The only real question they had was what were they going to do once they got to Ocean City. Hans recalled that they “both worked in restaurants and kitchens around Reisterstown and Owings Mills and we figured that we did not want to do that. We wanted to be outside and, as we saw it, our only two options were beach stand operator or beach patrol. We decided ‘Go big or go home’ and planned to try out for the OCBP.”
The fact neither of them had any competitive swimming experience did not deter Hans. He said, “I had played soccer and lacrosse in youth leagues and high school. I ran track and cross country for Towson State.” Being in good shape for the tryout would not be a problem. The pair put their minds and efforts to training for beach patrol tryouts.
“We sent away for the information packet and started swimming and running to pass the test. On Memorial Day weekend of 1985, we both tested and passed. It was so cold and so hard but we made it,” Hans recalled.
Hans began work on the beach patrol right away, sitting the stand on 47th “between Dave Welsh, who was in front of the Ocean Club on 49th and my crew chief, Madison Clark, on 45th.” Hans had wished for an exciting summer at the beach, and during that season in midtown, he certainly got it.
“I was situated at a rock jetty that presented all sorts of problems for me, while Dave Welsh sat just to my north in front of the Ocean Club. They served alcohol on the beach and there seemed to be a continuous rip in front of Dave,” Hans said. “When I wasn’t ‘towing’ people around my jetty, I was covering Dave as he fished out yet another intoxicated swimmer struggling in the rip.”
That summer, Hans saw a lot of action. But every guard will tell you there comes that one day that really tests you.
“My most memorable pull was a day that really scared me. I intercepted a young girl on an air mattress and was attempting to pull her out around the jetty,” he said. “We got really close and the waves started breaking on us and slamming us right into the end of the jetty. Every time I thought I was making headway, she would come over the top of me from a wave and we would both be slammed down hard on the rocks and bottom. I started to struggle trying to get my strap from the rescue buoy off as it was starting to choke me every time we went through the ‘washing machine’. I finally made it to the leeward side of the jetty to find that several guards had waded in chest deep and got a buoy to me and pulled me and the girl to safety. I was never so thankful for their ‘cover’. A crowd had gathered and I really didn’t want them to see me throw up on the beach. The next day, one of the beach telescope guys came by and gave me a ‘scope’ of me coming out of the water after that pull. That was a crazy summer. Dave Welsh and Madison Clark were such pros at the job and I am thankful that I got to sit between them that summer.”
For Hans, that one summer turned into three. He grew up a lot during those summers and took the lessons he learned to heart. “Working on the beach patrol taught me a lot about responsibility and gave me a structure in my life that I sorely lacked up to that point in time,” he said. “… It got me out of thinking that the world was all about me. It was definitely a growing up period in my life.”
Hans finished guarding after the 1987 season and would eventually get a job as an estimator for a heavy highway/infrastructure company in Baltimore. He still makes Reisterstown his home. And as for the training that he put himself through to prepare for summers on the Beach Patrol, that habit has continued in his life. “I am a USA Cycling Coach and I also coach a junior cycling team. In my spare time, I train for and compete in bike races and triathlons. I have completed eight full Ironman triathlons including the Hawaii Ironman. I’m currently training for my ninth Ironman this September.”