Tony Frost loves the surf, loves spending time on the beach. He likes it so much he’s been doing it for 65 years!
And last Thursday at Sunshine Beach Surf Club Tony’s extraordinary achievement as a lifesaver was hailed by about 100 fellow club members, his family, and well-wishers like Noosa State MP Sandy Bolton and representatives of Noosa Council.
Tony, now 83, has no intention of retiring. He is a proud Patrol Number One member (the club has 12 patrols) and he told Noosa Today he intends “to keep going.”
He has never lived far from the ocean. He recalled how when he was eight he joined the local Manly Swimming Club in Sydney. “My next-door neighbour was one of the coaches there. That’s what started it all.
“I was a member of the club for nearly 10 years and then, when I left school, became an active lifesaver with Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club where I earned my bronze medallion on January 17, 1960.”
A former Sydney newsagent, he and wife Kay retired to Sunshine Beach in 1988. He joined the surf club shortly after and in 1992 was asked by the club committee to start its Nippers Program with fellow member Wayne Wren as it “was the only club on the coast that didn’t have Nippers.
“The nearest pool was at Tewantin State School so we took them there but with 36 kids and only two lanes it was clear the community needed its own 50-metre pool.
“We had a public meeting at Sunshine Beach in 1994 and a group was formed but we weren’t getting much response from council. Its comment was, ‘Why do you need a 50-metre pool when you’ve got an ocean to swim in?’”
Tony said: “This was a red rag to bull. A further public meeting was held on December 6, 1995, at the Good Shepherd Lutheran School Assembly hall and the Noosa Olympic Pool Association was formed. I was elected president.
“Three months later we held a public presentation at the Villa Hotel, Noosaville which was attended by councilors and staff.
“We showed a video of school children on a hot summer day going to a 15-metre pool in a caravan park in Moorindil Street in Tewantin with no change rooms and no showers.
“We also had guest speakers and a week later we were informed the council had decided to call for expressions of interest to build a pool there.”
The pool Noosa Aquatic Centre officially opened on 1 May, 1999, by Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie. and Noosa Mayor Bob Abbott threw out a challenge to Tony. “We have a 50-metre pool, what about a swimming club?”
Tony accepted the challenge and was president of the Noosa Swimming Club for its first three years. A year later he was made a life member of his Sunshine Beach Life Saving Club.
Tony has continued to compete in Masters events right up until 2024 at Branch, State, Australian and World life saving championships.
He attended the Worlds in Verragio Italy in 2004, Warnamundi in Germany in 2008 and Montpelier France in 2014 winning a total of two silver medals and five bronze medals. From 1992 to 2024 he has won one gold, three silver and three bronze in his age group at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.
He has also taken part in many rescues over the years. Asked about the one he remembers most, he nominated a fisherman in October last year who was swept off the rocks and badly lacerated at the northern end of Sunshine Beach.
“Our jet boat spotted him and directed our recue vehicle to picked him up. He was taken to our patrol arena and drained of water, given oxygen therapy and his lacerations treated. The ambulance service came and took him to SCUH.
“He was released after 48 hours and lucky to be alive.”
His passion for his club and lifesaving is apparent. “Our patrols are a mix of experience and youth. We have a genuine care for each other and we work well on the beach. The friendships we make are lifelong ones.
“At last year’s Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Beach competitors won medals in every age group from open to under 13 years. We’re a small club but we punch well above our weight.”
