An 18-year-old drowned at a popular Maryland beach last week, days after two local senators called on the Trump administration to fill lifeguard vacancies at the location because "lives are at risk."
According to a press release from the National Park Service (NPS), the teenager, whose name has not been released, died while swimming near the Southern End of the Chincoteague Beach Parking Lot at Assateague Island National Seashore in Berlin, Md. on Thursday afternoon. The young man was swimming with another person in the water when both began "struggling in the water."
"At 4:15 pm on July 24, a relative ran down the beach and told the lifeguards that two swimmers were struggling in the water, well offshore," the NPS release says. "One was successfully rescued, the other was pulled from the water, unconscious, unresponsive, at which point CPR was immediately begun. The 18-year-old male was then transported via ambulance and pronounced deceased upon arrival at hospital."
The area where the men were swimming is "150 yards south" of the lifeguarded portion of the seashore, but the on-duty guards responded "quickly," per NPS.
Thursday's tragedy comes shortly after Maryland Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks published a joint letter asking for the restoration of lifeguard positions after several were left vacant following federal budget cuts issued by the Trump administration earlier this year.
"We urge you to fill all vacant lifeguard positions at Assateague immediately to protect public safety at this popular beach destination," the senators wrote, via CBS.
"Drownings happen in minutes, and there is no substitute for attentive lifeguards specifically assigned to monitoring water safety at Assateague," the letter added "Furthermore, NPS's current limited safety measures burden neighboring beach safety and emergency response efforts, stretching services too thin and making the entire area less safe for residents and visitors alike."
18-Year-Old Drowns After Lawmakers Said 'Lives Were at Risk' on Maryland Beach first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 27, 2025
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