Having kept Coolum Beach safe for the past 105 years, the local volunteer lifesavers at this tourist magnet are once again single-mindedly powering into their task of ensuring no lives are lost between the red and yellow flags.
Coolum lifesavers are back determined this year to enhance their proud record of vigilance and service that in the 2022-23 season saw them take out the Sunshine Coast Branch highest lifesaving honour – the Buhk Wilkes Trophy.
The club, through the strong leadership of a management committee headed by president Ernie Burrows (a life member, trainer and patrol captain) and unflappable club captain Anthony Waring, have their 14 patrol teams primed to respond fast and effectively to Coolum Beach’s many surf challenges.
Last season the Coolum clubbies closely watched over 83,000 beach goers, saving 38 of them from likely drowning, while preventing 1143 others from winding up in difficulty in what can be a hostile environment.
These are usually swimmers who ignore the advice and warning signs erected on Coolum Beach – or at the unpatrolled Stumers Creek or First Bay, where there have been a number of tragic drownings in recent years.
Kicking off on the first weekend of school holidays, followed up recently with a bumper King’s Holiday long weekend, more than 250 patrolling members have had their work cut for them already watching over thousands of swimmers, keeping them safe from rips and strong sweeps.
“One of our goals is to increase public awareness of the danger of rips,” Anthony said.
“Coolum is an open beach and it is subject to a lot of variation in swell size and winds … we have increased roving patrols up to Stumers Creek and we also place red flags up there to highlight surf danger spots.
“Between the surf club and Stumers is very popular with swimmers in the busy times as finding a park near the centre of town can be difficult,” he said.
Many of the clubbies have prepared for the off season by undertaking gruelling early morning sessions on the water – gutsy efforts that have paid off in spades in the epic competition classic, the Coolangatta Gold.
Outstanding efforts by the tight-knit Coolum competitors included the U19 female team taking gold, the mixed 140yrs team silver and the mixed 140yrs team and male 140yrs team each taking bronze.
“It’s great to see members train and improve their fitness and skills, which in turn makes them better lifesavers … not to mention the camaraderie gained over the weekend,” Anthony said.
Already Coolum’s dedicated trainers and assessors have been busy preseason helping qualifying new bronze medallion and surf rescue certificate to strengthen the patrol ranks, with a new bronze squad keen to hit the surf break.
And to prove that Coolum’s volunteers are never really off-duty, club surf sports coach and patrol captain Nic Lowe recently performed lifesaving CPR on a cyclist he found collapsed and not breathing beside the road at Maroochydore.
The final outcome was the man’s heart was restarted by the QAS response team after the vital intervention of Nic, two passing nurses and and-off duty paramedic.
President Ernie is delighted with the level of enthusiasm to take the club forward, from nippers right through every level of operation that is managed smoothly by its administration team.
“The commitment and enthusiasm of the new members highlights the willingness to be involved,” Ernie said, adding: “Patrolled beaches save lives.”
Every Sunday morning the beach is abuzz with youthful energy after 238 future lifesavers signed on for the Coolum Nipper activities watched over by dedicated teams of volunteer water safety officers.
This is all testament to the foresight of the club’s founder, local settler and swimming club stalwart Jack Morgan, who accepted the challenge back in 1919 from North Coast surf lifesaving pioneer Frank Venning to “do something about lifesaving” on his local beach.
The first surf reel was presented to fledgling swimming/surf club that Easter weekend by the Royal Life Saving Society secretary Mr J.J. Betts, followed by demonstrations of belt swimming by members of Brisbane Gymnasium Club.
“Quite simply this provision of safe surf swimming was the making of the Coolum Beach we see today,” club historian and active member Peter Gardiner said.
“The surf club’s official history book called Breathing Life Into Coolum Beach, makes a strong case that this coastal township’s status as a major tourist drawcard has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of the surf club.
“This is recognised in the Coolum SLSC’s insightful vision statement The Heart of Coolum Since 1919 – Your Club For Life – created by its members during an in-house strategy workshop,” Peter said.
Today the multi-million dollar clubhouse, with its award-winning bistro and bar is a key economic generator as well as social hub – but the foundations of Coolum Beach SLSC’s prolonged success has never deviated from having well-trained and equipped lifesavers on the beach.
All of these positives for Coolum owe a huge debt to one of the surf club’s greatest servants Keith Peterie, a life member, trainer and former top surf competitor.
Sadly, the club is still mourning the loss of 92-year-old Keith in early August. Keith and his great clubmate Ron Want are revered by members for saving their surf club from folding back in 1949.
After a tragic triple drowning, including the loss of lifesaver and war hero Dick Lugge in wild seas on Boxing Day the year before, Keith and Ron were the last two active members left in the club.
Instead of walking away to join another club, they took it upon themselves to train up young locals and together helped rebuild the club’s patrol numbers.
Years later Keith said of their remarkable club rescue:
“Ron and I didn’t want to let the club fold … if it folded again, it might never come back and that would be terrible for the town.”
And in recent times, Keith’s remarkable memory was an invaluable resource when it came to preserving much of Coolum Beach SLSC’s heritage via the history book. Vale Keith Peterie.
