CBS' 'Amazing Race': Miami Beach Lifeguards Take Plunge

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Sometimes you get the girl and sometimes you win the race. But on those rare occasions when the heavens align perfectly — say over France, or at the iconic Clevelander in South Beach — you can have it all. That was the case Wednesday night as Miami Beach lifeguards Brittany Austin and Lucas Bocanegra got engaged in front of millions on CBS' "The Amazing Race" and also finished first in the show's weekly race.

"They not only won the race. They won each other's hearts," observed Phil Keoghan, host of the long-running show that pits teams of contestants against one another in various challenges that take place in far-flung locations. Wednesday's episode was shot in France.

The couple, who had agreed to hide their engagement until the taped broadcast aired, became emotional as Lucas could be seen taking a knee in France. The big question came toward the end of the two-hour episode. That's when Brittany quietly slipped the engagement ring on during a watch party at the Clevelander as the climactic scene played on multiple screens around her.

Team Ocean Rescue as they are called on the show, had been dating for nearly 10 years and they did not need rescuing from the plunge they were about to take.

They displayed the ring publicly for the first time at the Clevelander. The event was attended by friends and co-workers from Miami Beach, but also a fellow contestant from the show.

It wasn't a question of whether Lucas would pop the question, it was a question of where on the adventure game his marriage proposal would land. The couple traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland on the first show along with 10 other teams that included former NBA players, models and former "Big Brother" showmancers Cody and Jessica.

From the debut of the show's first episode this season, producers have been teasing the audience as to when Lucas would finally pop the question.

In addition to France, Team Ocean Rescue had also visited Belgium and Morocco thus far.

Lucas described Brittany on their Season 30 introduction as his Wonder Woman, who just won the National Lifeguard Championships.

"I think the best part of the experience was definitely the traveling — getting to see different cultures," Brittany told Patch.

The couple can't say how they fared on the show. "We can't give out too much information," she said. "We can speak about each episode as it's airing each week."

The grand prize is $1 million.

Lucas said that he and Brittany thought they had good navigation skills going into the show but they soon learned otherwise.

"One thing we had to learn was the communication together with the trust and traveling, not using GPSs and trying to figure things out on our own," he said. "Trying to find a map alone is very difficult, especially in the stress of the race because you don't want to be falling back behind."

Eric Guiffreda, who is competing this season with his twin brother, Daniel, flew in from Louisiana to attend the watch party turned engagement party. He and his brother are known on the show as Team Firefighters.

"So much lack of sleep. There's a lot of different details that you don't get," he said of his experience. "They showed that we weren't able to drive a stick shift and we both had them for 10 years, but we didn't know that in Europe you had to pick it up and move it in reverse. We couldn't figure that out."

Brittany, who is assigned to 4 Street, said she has already performed a rescue since returning to Miami Beach in November but no one recognized her at the time.

"I had about three rescues the first day back at work," she recalled. "It hadn't aired yet so nobody knew we were on the show."

The next episode airs Wednesday, Jan 31 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Watch Team Ocean Rescue's introductory video from the show:

Photos by Paul Scicchitano. Video courtesy CBS.