Edwin Rooney was an early day waterman in the Northeastern part of the US. He was a pioneer New York surfer, bodysurfer and boatsurfer for the Jones Beach Lifeguard Corps at Jones Beach State Park in New York, and later at the Fire Island National Seashore. Besides an avid and successful surfer, he was also involved in the lifeguarding field for over 40 years, most of them as a supervising lifeguard.

Frank was an active and top surfer for almost 50 years. He began surfing in the early 1950's on very heavy 14 foot hollow Tom Blake paddleboards using old navy sweaters as wetsuits. As the lifeguards updated their equipment, he moved on to balsa wood boards and finally Hannon built fiberglass longboards.

Frank was also an avid bodysurfer using fins and riding way outside on the sandbars at Jones Beach. In his later years he also became very involved in competitive masters swimming. Frank passed away in 1997.