Life's a Beach

Five young men came to York College in the mid-1970s, recruited by coach Pat Massa as members of the men's swimming team. A love of water brought them together then and has continued to keep them connected years later. But now, instead of doing laps in a pool, they spend their days on the beaches of Delaware and New York as lifeguards.  

Ray Peden '77, Marty Clifford '83, and Arthur "Chip" Hannig '76 all came to York College from the Wilmington, Del., area, where they swam against each other in high school. "Delaware's a small state, so we all knew each other," said Clifford.  "Chip was the first to go to York, then Ray and then me." (Clifford "completed his paperwork" in 1983 to officially graduate, but he entered York College as a member of the Class of 1978.)

Tom Levine '78 and Ed Costigan '77 grew up on Long Island and competed against each other as high-school swimmers as well. They also spent their weekends as lifeguards at Jones Beach, N.Y.

The five came together as members of the Spartans swimming team, "a pretty tight group," said Costigan. "We were all there on scholarships, so we worked hard."

"When we traveled to meets, we took eight guys," said Clifford.  "We were such a small team, but we swam with the big boys, competing against schools like James Madison, Towson and Georgetown. The guys on the team, they were like my older brothers."

And Coach Pat Massa was like "a second father," according to Hannig. "He looked after all of us," Peden agrees. 

Graduation took the five in different directions. Levine returned to New York to work with his father in the family's printing and advertising company. After selling that business in 1990, he earned an MBA from NYU and worked at several banks before starting his own consulting firm – "doing investment banking work on the client side" – in 1998.  

Clifford moved to Florida in 1979 to look for a police job but ended up "taking a job on the beach instead," he said.  "It gave me the opportunity to do what I liked to do." He later became a partner in a golf business in Boca Raton, and in 1989, bought out his partners and opened his own business, making clubs and teaching golf.

Peden spent 29 years serving Delaware as a state trooper. During his career, he was a canine officer, member of the SWAT team, drill instructor, member of the youth aid division, detective in the major crimes unit and a road supervisor. His greatest accomplishment – above and beyond his police work, he says – was marrying his wife, Rainy, and being dad to 22-year-old daughter Dayna, who is the captain of the University of Tampa swim team.  

Chip Hannig, who says he "was in the right place at the right time," bought a service station in Wilmington just two months after graduating from York. He managed the business for 31 years, raising a son and daughter with wife and fellow York College alum Katie (Williams) '77.  "We knew each other at York, but we didn't date there," Hannig said. "After graduation, Katie got a job across the street from my service station. That's how we met." 

Costigan worked as a marketing representative for AIG in Manhattan for three years after graduating from York, then headed south to Florida to work as a police officer in West Palm Beach. Disillusioned with his work – "I was on the beat when Castro released his prisoners from jail" – he returned to New York City and spent the next 24 years serving as a firefighter. Costigan was on the job on 9/11 and spent several weeks at Ground Zero. "After 9/11, the job was completely different," he said. "It was almost like a war experience. It changed a lot of guys, and it changed the fire department." 

Although the five York College graduates went on to enjoy successful professional careers, the love of swimming they shared as teammates at York College never subsided throughout the years. 

Levine and Costigan continue to work as lifeguards at Jones Beach, a job they've enjoyed since they were teenagers. Levine enjoys the work, which he does on weekends, and it keeps him in shape. "It's so different from what I do in my 'real' life as a consultant," he said.  "But it's scary stuff.  People die. This work isn't for everybody. People love it or they don't do it."

Costigan agrees. "On a typical day in July, we have thousands in the water on Jones Beach," he said. "We do 200 to 300 rescues in a day." At age 54, he trains with a triathlon team from January to May to get ready for his summer lifeguard work.  "I'll be there as long as I can," he said.  "I'm still doing three or four rescues a week, so I know I've still got it," said Clifford, who was the oldest guy in Boca Raton to take the lifeguard test this year. 

In addition to working summers as a lifeguard at Rehoboth Beach, Del., Peden still competes in open-water swimming races.  He swam the English Channel in 1986, competed in the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon in 1982, and holds the American long distance swimming records for 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles and the marathon (26 miles).  A member of the York College Athletic Hall of Fame, an honor he shares with Clifford, Peden is currently training for a swim around Key West, Fla., this summer. 

Over the years, Peden has trained with Hannig, who is also a full-time lifeguard at Rehoboth Beach.  Hannig is preparing now for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim, a four-and-a-half mile swim he's done five times before.  In addition, he has coached swimming for 17 years at two Delaware high schools, Brandywine and his alma mater Salesianium. His teams have been nationally ranked and have earned eight state championships, and Hannig has been named Delaware state coach of the year four times. "I love working with the guys and seeing them improve," he said. 

All five have participated at one time or another in local, regional and national competitions sponsored by the United States Lifesaving Association. Costigan was in Rehoboth Beach for the regional championships a few years ago and ran into Hannig.  It was the first time the two had seen each other since 1977, but "it was like we never left York College," Costigan said.  "You don't lose time with these guys." 

These five former Spartans will always have a bond, they say, because they share a passion for the water as swimmers and lifeguards. "Lifeguarding isn't about the money," Hannig said. "We're doing something we have a love for." His former teammates share his sentiments. "We’ve all migrated back to the ocean because it's what we love," Peden said. "It's more than a hobby," Levine added. 

They also share one more thing: admiration and respect for their former coach who brought them together at York and fueled their passion as athletes. "We have one very common bond, and that's Coach Massa," Peden said. "He got us all to York. He was our coach, our mentor, and our friend."

Do you still keep in touch with your YCP teammates? Tell us your story at yorkmag@ycp.edu.

(Pictured: Chip Hannig - third from left, top row; Ed Costigan - fourth from left, top row; Tom Levine - seventh from left, top row; Marty Clifford - fourth from left, middle row; Ray Peden - sixth from left, middle row and Coach Massa - first on left, top row.)