Ocean City Beach Patrol Alumni

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

2014 — The Visit That Started It
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch clipping captures the moment Coronel Jose Maria de Andrade, leader of Rio de Janeiro’s 1,500-member Beach Patrol (Salvamar), came to Ocean City. Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald and Mayor Rick Meehan presented Andrade with a key to the city. Alongside him stood Mark McCleskey, Ocean City Beach Patrol alum. Andrade spent the week training with OCBP during its final 2014 Surf Rescue Academy — studying the Patrol’s command structure, training protocols, equipment, and evaluation systems, with an eye toward bringing that knowledge home to Brazil’s beaches.

2015 — BrazilDirect Puts Money Behind the Mission
The relationship didn’t end with a handshake and a plaque. In 2015, Mark McCleskey and Octavio Rezende — through BrazilDirect.us, LLC — took the next step: investing their own capital to work directly with Coronel Andrade and Salvamar to reduce drowning deaths across Rio de Janeiro’s coastline. Where the 2014 visit was an exchange of knowledge, 2015 was an exchange of resources — putting Ocean City’s decades of surf-rescue expertise into practical use on Brazil’s beaches.

The Post — Andrade, Years Later
The Facebook post captures Andrade’s own voice, full of emotion, as he prepares to travel to the United States again to represent Salvamar:

• “Blood in the Gulf” and “Good Seas” — the stark reality of ocean rescue work, danger and hope side by side
• “Prevention Every Day” — the philosophy Salvamar and OCBP share: the best rescue is the one that’s never needed
• “Vala x Bancada” and “Bocão” — insider Salvamar terms, markers of the culture and camaraderie of the crews he leads
• “At Any Time, With Any Sea” — the readiness ethic of a lifeguard force covering one of the world’s most demanding coastlines
• “I’m Getting on Board… I’m Leaving” — a man heading back to the country and the partnership that helped shape his agency

The Throughline
Ocean City trains him in 2014. BrazilDirect invests in 2015 to turn that training into fewer drownings on Rio’s beaches. And years later, Andrade is still crossing the Atlantic to represent Salvamar in the U.S. — a relationship that outlasted a single visit and became a real, ongoing exchange between two beach patrol cultures.
Click here to see all the photos: Mark McCleskey
https://www.facebook.com/share/19fVeHZLmy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

08/17/2026

🌊 MEET THE LIFEGUARD MONDAY: SRT Korelle Baker
Meet SRT Korelle Baker, back for her fourth summer with the Ocean City Beach Patrol! She proudly serves with Crew 8 at 50th Street. 🛟
Korelle joined the OCBP because of her friends, and four summers later, some of her favorite memories are still made with them. From beach bonfires and crew hangouts to the Women’s Car Wash, it’s the camaraderie and friendships that make the OCBP family so special. ❤️
When she’s not on the beach, Korelle enjoys paintball and dodgeball with her teammates, spin classes, spending time with friends, and checking out new coffee shops. During the offseason, she studies Public Health Science at the University of Maryland.
🏆 Favorite OCBP Memory: Winning “Comfiest Stand” of the Middle South!
🏊 Top Safety Tip: Always swim with a buddy!
Think you’d enjoy spending your summer like Korelle? Tryouts for Summer 2027 are underway! Visit JoinBeachPatrol.com or stop by any lifeguard stand to learn more.

08/17/2026

Vanishing Ocean City With Bunk Mann

August 3, 1986 was one of the most tragic days in Ocean City’s history. During an afternoon thunderstorm a lightning bolt struck the beach at 2nd Street leaving three dead and two injured, one of them critically (he would die the next day at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury).
The deceased were all from Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. They had come to Ocean City as part of a tour group and had sought shelter under an umbrella when the storm began. The fifth victim, the beach stand operator on 2nd Street, was also hit by the bolt but was about ten yards away and survived; he was treated and released from the hospital the next day.
Today the Beach Patrol clears the beach whenever lightning is sighted.
To purchase one of Bunk Mann’s books, click over to www.vanishingoc.com.
File photo

08/08/2026

From Bobby Lindsey