The lifeguard stand just south of Crystal Pier marks the spot where the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue squad meets every morning to train together — where bonds of trust and camaraderie are formed over wind sprints and ocean swims. That lifeguard stand now holds even more meaning for the guards because it bears the name of a former squad member who died in a 2013 mountaineering accident.
When Wrightsville Beach switched out eight of its lifeguard stands this year, town staff allowed members of the public to sponsor stands for $3,500 each. A few businesses saw it as an advertising opportunity, but Grey Liston’s parents, brother and friends saw it as a chance to honor not only Liston’s life and his four years as a lifeguard, but the lifelong bonds ocean rescue creates.
Liston’s memorial plaque on stand No. 12 reads “Stoked to Go Out,” a phrase that describes how he lived his life: enthusiastically and full of activity. During his four years attending UNCW, he was a member of Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, and the Seahawks’ swim team. He loved climbing, hiking, biking, swimming and skiing.
The plaque also reads “Lifeguards for Life.” Liston’s father, Rick Liston, chose the phrase because he has heard ocean rescue members around the nation use it as a slogan of sorts. Ocean rescue squads get to know one another when they face off at regional and national competitions, contests that foster both rivalries and respect between opposing beaches.
But Rick Liston didn’t fully grasp the meaning of “Lifeguards for Life” until shortly after Grey died, when another guard sent him a social media post showing a lifeguard stand in Florida with its warning flag at half mast. Liston wasn’t aware of any particular connection his son had to that beach, but the photo caption stated the flags were lowered in Grey’s honor. “Lifeguards for Life,” it read.
That sentiment was apparent within Wrightsville Beach’s ocean rescue squad when Rick Liston travelled from his home in Raleigh to see the newly installed plaque June 24. All the guards on duty that day — nearly 30 of them — gathered around the stand with Liston to pose for a photograph.
While Rick Liston doesn’t know many members of the current squad, he said his family is still close with the squad members who guarded the island alongside Grey and his brother Seth. Those guards continue to show their support for the Liston family by participating in Grey’s memorial open-water swim year after year.
Lifeguard captain Jeremy Owens, who worked with Grey, explained the strength of the bonds formed between the guards, which he described as a brotherhood.
“That brotherhood is eternal,” he said. “You’re going to have that bond with the people you work with out here forever.”
He remains good friends with the guards he worked with when he started in 2003, he said.
“I would never hesitate to call any of them, and none of them would hesitate to call me if they needed something,” he said. “We’re just always looking out for each other.”
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