Va. teen drowns at Assateague Island amid calls for increased lifeguards

Washington Post

4 days ago

An 18-year-old drowned last Thursday while swimming at Assateague Island National Seashore, a popular beach managed by the National Park Service that has struggled to staff lifeguards following cuts to federal funding.
The victim was identified Tuesday as Cresencio Lucas Chavez Velasquez of Parksley, Virginia. He and another person were swimming near the southern end of the Chincoteague Beach parking lot around 4 p.m. when a relative alerted lifeguards that the two swimmers were struggling offshore, according to the National Park Service.
The other swimmer was successfully rescued, but Velasquez was unconscious and unresponsive when he was pulled from the water. He received CPR on-site and was then transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Park Service.
The incident occurred 150 yards south of the 'lifeguarded zone' of the seashore, on the Virginia end of a 37-mile island divided between that state and Maryland, according to the NPS. The drowning occurred during staffed hours, though it is unclear where the closest lifeguard stand was.
'On duty lifeguards responded quickly and assisted with the search,' the Park Service said in a news release. 'We are thankful for our local partners who assisted in the search effort and work hard every day.'
According to the American Lifeguard Association, a national educational organization that promotes water safety programs, 150 yards is considered too far for stationed lifeguards to be able to effectively respond to incidents, especially in open water with waves and currents. Beyond 100 yards, it becomes more difficult for a lifeguard to spot distressed swimmers and respond within a short but critical window, the association's spokesperson said.
'This highlights the importance of adequate staffing and spacing based on the full stretch of public-use shoreline,' he told The Washington Post. Velasquez's family could not be reached for comment.
Assateague is one of the most visited National Park sites, receiving over 2.5 million visitors annually. Like other beaches managed by the National Park Service, Assateague Island was unable to staff its lifeguard stands for much of the summer because of the Trump administration's employee reduction efforts and a federal hiring freeze — which was implemented in January, around when the agency usually starts hiring lifeguard staff for the warmer months. The island typically staffs 13 lifeguards, with six on the Maryland side, six on the Virginia side and a chief lifeguard.
Community members, vacationers and politicians have been voicing concerns about the lack of staffing on the island for months. On July 11, Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks co-wrote a letter to the Trump administration urging it to fill vacant lifeguard positions at Assateague Island. They noted that it is 'unclear why the Department did not count lifeguards as 'public safety' personnel, which would have omitted them from the hiring freeze.'
Seasonal employees were granted exemption from the federal hiring freeze on May 2, though the NPS was still unable to staff lifeguarding positions, according to the senators' letter. The senators did not receive a formal responses to the letter but have been in contact with the NPS about lifeguard staffing.
NPS did not respond to questions about the number of lifeguards currently staffed on the island or why the agency did not staff lifeguards after the hiring freeze exemptions were made, and referred The Post to its news release on the incident.
Accomack County supervisors voted on July 11 to manage lifeguard operations on Virginia's portion of the island for the rest of the summer, using local, county and federal funds to pay for the program. The Virginia side of the island has been staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. since July 17 and will continue to have lifeguards on duty daily through mid-August, then weekends through Labor Day.
The island's shores are known for strong riptides. In 2024, Chincoteague emergency services responded to 34 calls on the island, and lifeguards were responsible for 24 rescues, according to the Shore Daily News, an outlet covering the Eastern Shore.
On the Virginia section of the island, there were recently life-threatening situations during which 'good Samaritans' had to help until emergency services could arrive, Chincoteague Mayor Denise Bowden told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.