February 2023 — As I look down the beach I can hardly believe what I’m seeing! It looks like it could be a surf lifesaving carnival and I’ve never been to one. Or some kind of carnival anyway, and with my usual curiosity I want to see what’s going on.





I immediately head towards it, even if I can only have a quick look and take a few photos. We’re trying to find the off-leash area for the dog and have discovered the carnival in the process. I so badly want to investigate, at least a little!

A childhood memory: a picture of surf lifesavers, five or six of them, pushing a big wooden boat with oars out into the surf, their heads covered in cotton caps tied under the chin. Another picture: a surf lifesaving carnival, 1950’s, probably in Sydney, a parade of men, again with the caps, marching with the leader proudly holding a big flag aloft displaying the club colours. It was probably on Bondi Beach, even then a famous, almost mythical place.

Things have changed a lot since then. The wooden boats have been replaced by inflatables with outboard motors, and with jet skis; helicopters roam the skies above popular beaches;





eight-foot surfboards have been replaced by much shorter and lighter rescue boards with hand grips; there is now a national governing body, and Surf Life Saving Australia has grown to be one of the biggest volunteer organisations in the world. There are almost 190,000 members, and over the years more than 685,000 people have been saved from drowning. There are now 314 clubs around the country, and it’s all funded by government grants, fundraising, corporate sponsorships, and community donations. One thing hasn’t changed – they all still wear the little caps tied under the chin.

SLSA exists to save lives, create great Australians and build better communities. Through its coastal safety, lifesaving, education, sport and recreation programs and services, SLSA generates significant social and economic benefits for the Australian community each year.

A recent audit demonstrated that for every dollar invested $20 is returned to the economy; the yearly worth to the community is $6.5 billion; and over sixteen million volunteer hours are logged each year. Australia’s intrinsic and passionate beach culture results in 300 million beach goers visiting the coast every year, but Australian beaches are among the most dangerous and unpredictable in the world. SLSA, a unique not-for-profit community organisation, has grown from the need to manage the hazards associated with this inherent beach culture.

Apart from local carnivals and competitions, that are the training ground for skilled lifesavers, there is The Aussies – the annual Australian Surf Life Saving Championships where members from Australia’s 314 surf clubs compete in more than 480 beach and ocean events. It is the largest event of its kind in the world, and compares in size to the Commonwealth Games, with as many as 5 to 7 thousand competitors in youth, open, and masters categories. Events cover all the skills required to save a life, from water skills to beach skills to first aid and team events – including sprinting, board rescue, wading, surf swimming, ironman/woman and a surf boat competition. It’s huge! Surf lifesaving has become a national sport.

But what we come across is not The Aussies. What we come across is the nippers.





Nippers includes the Junior Development Program which is designed to ensure children have fun at the beach, while participating in lessons that will provide them with a pathway to become a qualified surf lifesaver and a junior competitor. As they progress through the various age groups, nippers will undergo lessons in wading, running, ocean swimming, board paddling, and lifesaving skills as well as learning the basics of resuscitation and first aid.

This event is the Far South Coast Branch Junior Carnival 2023 on Broulee Beach. It’s a riot of kids in electric pink and acid green,








which I initially think are club colours. But no, they are simply for visibility. Then I notice every child has his/her age category marked on their leg or upper arm – Under11, U12, etc. The oldest are U14. Later a bit of sleuthing tells me that the participating clubs are Moruya, Pambula, Tathra, Broulee, Bermagui, Batemans Bay, and Narooma – all names I’m familiar with, all towns on the NSW far south coast. Each club has a tent and mountains of equipment.





There must be hundreds of people here: officials, race supervisors, parents, families, and of course the NSW branch of SLSA in its iconic red and yellow colours.





I watch the kids prepare for, and then run relays.











Meanwhile out on the water there are paddling races. I think they keep their legs bent to stop their feet slowing them down by dragging in the water. That’s my guess anyway. They’re paddling on something that seems to be the offspring of a marriage between a boogie board and a surf board.











Here you can see a rescue board with the handgrips along both sides for a drowning person to hold on to.





This next race went across the sand rather than along it. And weirdly the kids began lying on their bellies facing away from the direction they were to run in. They jump up and turn and run like mad things for a flag baton across the sand. There’s one less baton than the number of kids entered.














Of course there are swimming races. I’m in awe of the way the kids hurl themselves into the surf, dive through the waves and swim into deeper and deeper water. These are not short swims. Out to the buoys and back is several hundred metres. These kids below are all only nine years old; you can see the U10 on their legs. You know when they hurl themselves into the surf without hesitation that they’ve been doing it since they could walk, and probably started learning to swim before they could walk.

















And naturally there’s a lot of hanging out with your mates, playing in the sand.









And those caps? They’re for visibility, a clear form of in-water identification. At carnivals the cap colours indicate the club. On beaches that are patrolled by SLSA they are worn by lifesavers while on active duty. The red and yellow quartered patrol cap has been an iconic symbol of the surf lifesaving movement for almost a century and makes lifesavers instantly recognizable.

The difference between lifesavers and lifeguards is lifesavers are volunteers who are part of surf lifesaving clubs. Lifeguards are paid professionals who work for the Australian Lifeguard Service, local council, or an alternate service provider. Where possible, lifeguards are recruited through the volunteer base provided by SLSA. Apart from first aid and resuscitation certificates, lifeguards must pass the following fitness tests: A minimum 400m swim, 800m run, 400m rescue board paddle and 800m run in the surf, all in under 25 minutes, plus an 800 metre pool swim in under 14 minutes, and rescue scenarios utilising a Rescue Board and Rescue Tube. They are clearly serious athletes.

Of course I knew there was surf lifesaving volunteers on Aussie beaches, and I knew that they were always recognizable by their bright red and yellow colours, but I had no idea the organisation had gotten so big. And so necessary. Last year sadly 125 people drowned at Australian beaches, but nearly 10,000 were rescued.

I wish I could have stayed longer, talked with some people there, asked some questions, but the others were waiting and it was time to get Sylvie the greyhound to the off-leash area so she could have some fun too. So with one last look back I join the others and we go watch the frolicking dogs.





If you want to see some surf lifesavers at work on one of the busiest beaches in the world, watch a couple of episodes of Bondi Rescue. They’re paid professionals, rather than SLSA trained volunteers, but it will still give you a good idea of what beach safety entails and how they manage it.





Broulee Beach is situated on what was and always will be Aboriginal land; the land of the Yuin Nation.



Next post: What? You thought I wouldn’t have any photos of surfers? A photo essay of surfer shenanigans coming up.




All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2024.