Who is Greg Wilfert? Maine lifeguard dragged underwater by shark describes horror, ‘It was frightening’
A lifeguard in Maine has described the terrifying moment he was pulled underwater by a shark off the coast of Scarborough Beach on Saturday, August 8. Greg Wilfert said that he “started swimming like hell” when a shark grabbed onto his buoy and pulled him underwater.
Wilfert recalled that he initially thought he was caught in the propeller of a boat.
“Cause that’s the only thing I could think of until I realized there was no boat,” he said, according to CBS News.
Wilfert said he managed to free himself and emerge on shore unharmed only after the shark had pulled him about five feet underwater.
“It was frightening,” he said. “I’m not going to deny that.”
Who is Greg Wilfert?
Wilfert, 71, is a longtime lifeguard and Park Manager at Scarborough Beach, according to Wide Open Country. He has been employed at a beach for at least 55 years.
Wilfert shared, according to WHDH, “I thought a boat had come by and grabbed my rescue can because I got pulled under, and I realized right away that it was not a boat, that it had to have been a great white. I just swam as fast as I could to the surface, and then I just was hoping it wasn’t behind me.”
Wilfert humorously said that he was swimming so fast, he “could’ve beaten Michael Phelps,” an iconic Olympic swimmer with several medals to his credit.
Meanwhile, the Scarborough Harbormaster, Daryen Granata, said, “There was a lot of bait around, a lot of bait fish, a lot of stripers – there’s a lot of fish around.”
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Wilfert added, “We knew there was a presence around, but we had put up a drone and we hadn’t seen them.”
Wilfert also issued a warning, saying, “There’s a lot of beaches that we have around here that there’s no lifeguards, and they have the presence of these great whites, and you need to take it seriously. I’m taking it seriously. I won’t be swimming the buoys for a while.”
Increased shark sightings close to the shore
According to officials along the East Coast, there are more sharks closer to shore in areas where they don’t usually go. At least a dozen sharks have been spotted close to popular beaches in the area of Wilfert’s encounter, according to Scarborough’s marine resources officer Granata.
“Usually we’ll see one or two here and there. This is a large volume, larger than I’ve seen, and I’ve worked this area for 30-plus years,” Granata said, per CBS News.
Experts said the trend has been happening because conservation efforts have led to an increase in marine life populations in recent years.
“We’re gonna see more of everything, including more sharks,” said OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer, whose nonprofit studies sharks by catching, tagging and collecting data before releasing them into the ocean.
“It means just try to be a little bit more aware of what’s going on in the environment around you. You see a lot of life, steer clear of that,” he warned.
The International Shark Attack File reported 25 unprovoked bites in 2025.
