- November 27, 2024
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Volusia lifeguard Hallie Petersohn has once again struck gold — this time on her hometown waves of Daytona Beach.
The 24-year-old Port Orange resident is the Women’s National Champion in the Surf Race competition at the 2017 USLA National Lifeguard Championships, held at Daytona Beach on Aug. 9-12.
Petersohn has had her fair share of success in lifeguard competitions. Over the last two years, she spent two six-month periods training in Australia for the International Lifeguard Championships with the U.S. National Team after placing highly at the National Championships.
Petersohn started competing with the Volusia Lifesaving Association in 2009, the first year she became a lifeguard. She took a four-year intermission from competing to attend school at Louisiana State University, where she kept her swimming skills sharp on the swim team. Even during her time at LSU, Petersohn would return on school breaks to once again swim in familiar surf.
“I came back after college, and my parents were like, ‘OK, you have to find a real job,’” she said. “And I was like, ‘I’m not ready to find a real job. I’ll just do this in the summers, then I’ll compete in Nationals.’”
Her plan to keep competing has gone in her favor thus far. She said she owes much of her success to her father, Scott Petersohn.
While she took to swimming naturally growing up, her father’s influence as a former deputy chief of the Volusia County Beach Patrol propelled her into the lifeguard mindset.
“My dad definitely was a big help because he taught me everything,” Hallie said. “When I started getting into this, he bought me a ski, and I bought a board, so he showed me all the techniques for it … I don’t think I’d be where I’m at without him helping me.”
Competing on home sand allowed familiar faces to watch Petersohn in action. Flagler Beach Parks and Recreation Director Tom Gillin, who competed in the National Championships himself, was on the sidelines for many of Petersohn’s events. Gillin used to help coach Petersohn in swimming, back when she was a “tiny, peanut swimmer.”
“Watching her progress as a swimmer was just amazing,” Gillin said. “She just kept consistently, year after year, getting faster and faster and became a national caliber college swimmer. It was really kind of neat seeing someone you know doing that well.”
