By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. has been nicknamed “The Iron Man’’ for his all-time record of playing in 2,632 consecutive games during his 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.
With apologies to Ripken, his record of endurance seems, well, somewhat puny when compared to the incredible streak of two close friends, both nearing 80 years old, who could be dubbed “The Iron Men” of Sea Isle City.
Remarkably, Bill Gallagher, 79, and Al Kraus, 78, two former lifeguards at the Jersey Shore, have been swimming together in the ocean about five days a week each summer since 1965. Yes, 1965.
They closed out the summer of 2023 with their last swim of the season on Thursday off Sea Isle’s 43rd Street beach, the same place they have been swimming together since 1965.
“This is our meeting place over the years,” Gallagher explained of the significance of the 43rd Street beach for their swims.
Gallagher and Kraus are originally from Philadelphia and both were members of the swim team at Father Judge High School. They continued their friendship when their families came to Sea Isle – Gallagher living on Venicean Road and Kraus residing on 47th Place a few blocks from 43rd Street.
Gallagher remains a full-time resident of Sea Isle. Kraus, who lives in Devon, Pa., sold his house on 47th Place last year, but continues to spend his summers in Sea Isle.
The self-described “Philly boys” became closely tied to the Jersey Shore as lifeguards in Sea Isle and Avalon.
Gallagher was a Sea Isle lifeguard from 1963 to 1967 and headed the city’s beach patrol as captain from 1970 to 1978. He has a long list of swimming honors and championships over the years, starting with his high school career and continuing through college and then with Sea Isle’s beach patrol.
He is the namesake for the Bill Gallagher 10 Mile Island Run, a tradition in Sea Isle since 1970. For 44 years, his family has operated G&T Linen Rentals in Sea Isle.
Kraus, meanwhile, was a member of the Avalon Beach Patrol for three years starting in 1965. His formal first name is Aloysius, but he goes by the nickname “Wish.”
Although both men are in their late 70s, their level of fitness and swimming ability would seemingly put most men half or even a third of their age to shame.
“What we do is for good health,” Gallagher noted. “Swimming one mile is equal to four miles of running.”
Their swims off the 43rd Street beach normally begin around 8:30 a.m. and last about 35 minutes. They head out about 150 feet off the beach and swim back and forth parallel to shore for about a mile. They formerly would swim about two miles and have done much longer jaunts over the years.
Some of their swims have had plenty of adventure. Gallagher noted that big waves at times have left them “lucky to be alive.”
Then there was one particularly memorable encounter in the water that occurred around 2010 or 2011, Kraus recalled.
“This is probably the scariest and most unusual thing that happened to us. We were swimming and all of a sudden the water starting churning. Flapping around us was a school of bait fish as far as we could see,” Kraus said.
“Then the scary part happened. I yelled at Bill, ‘Pull your legs up.’ A fin kept coming toward us and then it went underwater. Then we realized there were multiple dolphins that came up to us,” he added with a laugh about the normally docile creatures.
“That’s his version,” Gallagher said sarcastically of Kraus’ dramatic storytelling.
As a safety measure when they are in the ocean, both men wear either a bright yellow or orange inflatable buoy to make them visible to boaters or riders of Jet Skis or WaveRunners.
The competitive drive of these two accomplished swimmers is still intense, which is underscored by the friendly rivalry they have with each other.
“He never beat me in high school and never beat me in the ocean,” Kraus boasted.
“Totally untrue. We did not go head-to-head. You did not beat me in high school,” Gallagher shot back.
They also enjoy taking jabs at each other over their choice of rival Philadelphia colleges. Gallagher went to LaSalle University, while Kraus attended St. Joseph’s University.
“He couldn’t get into LaSalle,” Gallagher joked.
“That’s pretty low,” Kraus responded.
To get back at Gallagher, Kraus, who was an executive in the medical and computer industries and served as president of three companies, gleefully pointed out that he also attended an executive course at prestigious Harvard.
In the water, though, there is harmony in their swimming. Their strokes seem perfectly matched at times, almost like synchronized swimming.
At this point, there is no talk from Gallagher or Kraus about stopping their summer swims together. Who knows, they may continue swimming into their 80s. There is a great reason for doing so, Gallagher explained
“That’s the good thing about having someone to swim with. You don’t want to let them down and they don’t want to let you down,” he said.
