Greg Wilfert is 71 years old and has been lifeguarding over half a century, watching out for swimmer safety since he was 17 years old. Wilfert is the Scarborough Beach lifeguard who was attacked by a great white shark over the weekend while swimming on shark patrol. I found a way to make it work,” Wilfert told told WMTW-TV in an interview five years ago. Wilfert was swimming on weekend shark patrol when a shark grabbed the strap of his rescue torpedo and pulled him down. That’s when Wilfert figured out it was a shark, at least a dozen of which have been spotted at Scarborough Beach in the last few days.