Locals Attempt to Rescue Drowned Surfer in Riis Park

By Katie McFadden

There’s less than 40 days until Memorial Day but Rockaway already had its first drowning of 2025. A surfer was rescued by good Samaritans from the water on Bay 1 in Riis Park on Saturday, April 12, but despite the rescue attempt, he didn’t make it.

Owen Conti, 18, was on the dune, checking out the waves on Beach 149th Street on Saturday while thinking about hitting the waves himself, when he spotted a surfboard “tombstoning,” with half of it sticking upright out of the water. For those who surf regularly, that could only mean one thing—a surfer was underwater on the other end of its leash. Conti, a New York City lifeguard of two years who has surfed since he was 5, knew it wasn’t a good sign.

At the time, he was with former lifeguard Jag Guidarelli. Conti quickly called his father, Robert, and let him know the situation and that he was going in. “I’m running down the beach. I left mom’s car running and may go in the water for the guy,” Robert Conti recalls his son saying.

As Owen Conti and Guidarelli ran towards Bay 1, another surfer who was in the water, was already trying to pull the unconscious surfer out of the water, but he ran out of steam trying to lift the lifeless body. As they arrived, Conti and Guidarelli, in waist-deep water, took over and pulled the man on to shore. They called 911 and began CPR. “They did CPR for a good 20 minutes until EMS got there. A fire truck and EMS got there and ended up bringing him up to the boardwalk and put him in an ambulance and took him to Coney Island Hospital. He was pronounced dead there,” Robert Conti said. “It was a bad scene. I feel bad for my son, he was a little shaken up over it.”

Friends on Facebook confirmed that the drowning victim was 34-year-old Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers of Brooklyn. Rogers was described by friend Chris Westcott as “a kind soul and warm-hearted human” and “a talented cinematographer.” Rogers was known as a regular surfer. On his own website, he says, “When I’m not behind the camera, you might find me surfing the East Coast or wherever there are good waves.”

Robert Conti has a theory on what may have happened. He believes Rogers may have been caught on one of the old wooden jetties around Bay 1. “It was a pretty big surfing day, the waves were four to five feet and there was a strong east to west current, so I think he got swept up and his board got stuck in the jetty. It’s possible he was exhausted and drowned but that’s pretty unlikely. You can just lay on your board and get dragged in if you’re tired, so I think he got stuck and couldn’t reach his leash to free himself,” Conti said. “We don’t know how long he was hung up on the jetty when my son got to him. He could have been already dead under water when they saw him.” Conti says the other surfer that was in the water and attempted to rescue him, did not know Rogers.

Conti’s theory also comes from seeing similar incidents occur in Rockaway. In November 2009, a 36-year-old man died after his surfboard leash became entangled in a jetty on Beach 96th Street. Since the rock jetties have been installed in Rockaway, many have called for the old wooden jetties or the “sticks” that remain to be removed. At this month’s Community Board 14 meeting, it was announced that funding has been obtained for the removal, but there is no date set for when they will be removed.

Riis Park has also seen several drownings in recent years when lifeguards weren’t present. Last summer, on June 21, teenagers Elyjha Chandler and Christian Perkins drowned after going in the water at Bay 1 after lifeguards had left. In July 2023, another teen, Amadou Thiam drowned in the waters at Riis Park after going missing at 7:45 p.m.