Tad came to his senses and began to swim in long, gliding strokes that got him to the beach in seconds. Climbing onto the sand, he hiked his wet pants over his boxers and broke into a jog. His wet socks picked up layers of sand and squelched against the boardwalk unpleasantly as Tad ascended the stairs, but he didn't think to take them off as he hurried to Derby's rescue.
He brought his fists up to his chin once he neared the fight. Derby seemed to be doing decently well on his own with all of the cheating, which Tad generally disapproved of, but he'd never made this disapproval known to Derby. Still, Tad felt he owed it to his friend and leader to help wherever he could, so he got behind Jim and compounded Derby's crushing skull blow with a few punches to Jim's back.
Sure, punching someone in the back wasn't entirely honorable, but Tad had been beaten up enough times by Jim that he considered a dishonorable move here and there a small price to pay for victory.