By Ron Lane
THERE are many people walking around this great state of ours, who no doubt owe their lives to the unsung heroes of the silent service of the surf lifesaving movement: the Emergency Response Group.
This team that work on a 24/7 call out roster, have added another incident to their diary of rescues.
Last week right on dusk, Noosa members of the team responded to a call that a kite surfer was seen in big trouble in the mouth of the Noosa Bar.
With the IRB being launched in the river mouth and the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) on standby at the coast guard tower, the search patterns were quickly implemented and happy to relate the kite surfer was found alive some 800 metres from the river mouth on North Shore.
“Our patient was a male aged about 25 years and as darkness had set in he was very happy to see us,” said a team representative.
“He had first got into trouble when he landed in the river mouth and had a tangle of ropes all over the place. This time he was lucky, next time who knows.”
This is yet another good example of the great team work that exists between lifesavers and local police in times of emergencies. ‘
“When we launched our patrol boat the police vehicle was parked close to the water’s edge and with headlights turned on high beam, facing the river mouth, the lights were a major help,” said a crewman.
For Sunshine Beach and Noosa it was a very busy weekend in competition.
Sunshine once again showed that their future regarding competition looks very promising with a really outstanding result at the Caloundra carnival.
This time it was the young boys in the Under 14s who really made people stop and look.
At day’s end their results were; first in the Cameron relay, first and third in the board rescue, second in the surf swim and second in the board relay.
Club spokesman Dave Gleeson said, “It was a good effort and to see the boys do so well indeed looks good for the season ahead.”
In the first round of the Summer of Surf Series held at Alexandra Headlands, Noosa head coach Darren Mercer said, “We are very happy with the team’s overall performance. Our Under 17 boys did well in both team and individual events. Results in the opens in both men and womens were also very good. We had four making the finals of the Iron Persons events; two in the women’s and two in the men’s.
The girls really had a great day with Lana Rogers, Jordan Mercer and Grace Kaihau winning the Female Taplin.
Add to this in the men’s open board relay, Rhys Burrows, Lachie Lansdown and Connor Burrows also had a win.
“Rhys also won the open board. These were just a few of the many who performed well.”
For the clubs this weekend, the weekend of the Noosa Tri will indeed be very busy.
In keeping with the proud tradition of supporting major sporting events, local lifesaving clubs Noosa, Sunshine Beach, Coolum and Mudjimba will once again supply water safety.
Their commitment will have started early Wednesday by Noosa covering the Endura Run-Swim-Run, with a starting time of 6.30am.
This will be followed by Friday’s Arena Noosa 1000 Ocean Swim starting time 4.15pm.
Then all clubs named will work together to cover the Noosa Tri with a race starting time of 6.15am.
With the success of last year’s Tri swim being shifted to Main Beach, it is good to see this move continued and we wish all involved calm seas and good luck.
