Did you know swimming at the beach used to be BANNED?

Surf Lifesaving can be traced back to a Mr. William Gocher at Sydney’s Manly Beach in September 1902. Small groups of experienced and regular surfers began to form themselves into lifesaving bodies to assist those who needed to be rescued. In 1907, the New South Wales Surf Bathing Association was formed. Now, 650,000 voluntary patrol hours keep swimmers safe every season. We talk to the people who make it possible.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
We are a seaside nation here in Australia, well everywhere
except the middle, but more than eighty percent of us
live within coastal regions. And we're known worldwide for our
love of the surf, sun and sand because well obviously
every Aussie looks and sounds like Chruse Emsworth. But from
crocs and sharks to rips and reefs, we take a

(00:23):
risk each time we get in the water, so we
need someone to look out for us. Let's meet the
guy who started it all, a maverick who broke all
the rules so that we could get burnt to a
crisp or sticky with sunscreen. A guy who's fleeting rebellion
started a movement that would spread across the world. I'm

(00:44):
Amanda Keller asking you to please swim between the flags
for brain fuel great Ossie stories from the Road, fueled
by ample Australia Zone. In the nineteenth century, some Sydney
Siders were banned from swimming in the ocean during daylight hours.
As the story goes, an artist by the name of

(01:06):
William Gotcha campaigned to end the ban, running headlong into
the water at Manly Beach while the sun was still
up the police. Well, they didn't really care, but it
made for a good story. When the rules were changed
around nineteen oh two, it was actually because Sydney was
in the grip of a drought. The councils thought that

(01:27):
letting people bathe in the ocean would save water. But
in the tradition of the Great Osilarican, a legend had
been born, and with it came surf Life Saving.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Syril bulldoc O, am life member of Bondi Babors Life
Saving Club and the current patron of the club, joined
Bon Dai orteen year old in nineteen fifty eight and
one fifteen Australian Surflo SURVIEC titles.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Cyril has been involved in surf life saving since nineteen
fifty eight, a mere fifty years after its humble beginnings.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
It was formed by a group of young men on
Bondla Beach who saw the dangers and people were getting
into trouble and drowning, and they formed the club first
and invented things like the rule and made it formal
and it just spiraled and grew from there.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
On October eighteenth, nineteen oh seven, representatives from Sydney Surf
Life Saving clubs, together with members of other groups met
to form the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales
or as we know it now, Surf Life Saving Australia.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
We're the first country to do it. I think it's
the volunteering spirit and helping spirit of Australians that started
first about one hundred and ten years ago, and then
that first formed it they were fine is and really
it was only just starting to evolve and just starting

(02:58):
to improve and get some royal roots by the time
I joined.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
The original equipment is unrecognizable now. It's evolved from the
old line and belt reels in the early days to
drones and helicopters that we use now.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
The most important change was four years ago when they'll
allowed women to join the association.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Here here we all know the red and yellow uniform
and flags. Every summer they signal to us that if
we get into strife, someone's looking out for us. What
has been the impact all these years later, First.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
And foremost saving lives, saving money for governments to be
able to save those lives, and giving confidence to beach
goers to know that they're safe. When the voluntary by
saving patrols were on duty.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Over the past one hundred and fourteen years, Surf Life
Savers have rescued more than six hundred and fifty thousand
beach goers, one hundred and eighty one thousand members patrol
third twenty six thousand kilometers of some of the most
diverse coastline in the.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
World, even the tinier places, all along the coast, even
in the country areas you know, because you could name
dozens and dozens of them.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
These days, our long tradition has expanded all over the world.
You'll find Surf Life Saving in the USA, it's in
New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the UK keeping beach
goers safe in the water.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Of course, it is still spreading worldwide. In Australia was
the start of that.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
And there's no doubt it will be for generations to
come from Hanging ten to whatever your journey and Poul
will get you there. Make sure you follow our adventures
for free in your favorite podcast app. I'm Amanda Keller
and this is brain Fuel