Does a water rescue score higher than a barrel?
Soundwaves Australian Junior Surfing Titles
Surfing Australia
Bombo Beach, Kiama New South Wales
1 - 6 December 2013
NSW Junior Team Members Rescue Father & Son at Kiama Surf Beach
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 December, 2013 - Kiama, New South Wales - A team of three NSW surfers, who are currently competing in the Soundwave Australian Junior Surfing Titles, have made a daring rescue while surfing at Kiama Surf Beach.
Caleb Tancred (Avoca) Macy Callaghan (Avoca) and Chris Zaffis (Angourie), safely rescued a father and son who were being swept out to sea in a rip at the southern end of the notorious surf break.
All three surfers are part of the NSW junior team and are currently running through Surfing NSW’s free CPR and board rescue course as part of their event training.
“Both the father and son were getting swept out to sea in a rip, right next to the rocks and near where we were surfing,” said Zaffis.
“Both of them were beginning to panic, so we went and had a look and offered them some assistance. The son had a bodyboard and the father was swimming next to him, trying to push him into waves. All of us pushed them out of the rip towards the breaking waves and helped them get in to shore.”
Zaffis added: “I think all surfers will need to make a rescue at one point or another while surfing. I know that us three have had to pull people out of rips more than once. The Surfers Rescue 24/7 program gives people like us the skills to do these things.”
All surfers who perform rescues can now log their rescues at the Surfers Rescue 24/7 online platform, surfersrescue247.com and go in the draw to win a variety of monthly prizes.
The Surfers Rescue 24/7 initiative was sparked by a need to cover the gap between patrolled beaches and remote beaches in an effort to reduce deaths from drowning in NSW.
Four-time ASP World Surfing Champion Mark Richards is a huge supporter of the course. “I found the whole Surfers Rescue 24/7 course to be very enlightening and it made me think about what I would do if I happened to stumble across a bad situation that’s happening in the water,” Richards said.
“I think this is something everybody should be taught. A course like this should be part of a school’s curriculum. It’s just as important as learning to read or write. A surfer’s recreational enjoyment can often take place in some pretty dangerous environments, so it’s safe to say that over the course of their life, they will have to assist in a rescue or even perform CPR on someone. I think it’s essential for anyone who surfs to have these skill sets. I thought the course was great.”
All surfers who participated in the course will receive a certificate stating they're properly accredited. Any surfer from the recreational grass-roots boardrider to a professional surfer of any discipline of surfing is welcome to participate in Surfers Rescue 24/7.
Surfers Rescue 24/7 recently won the Community Education Program of the Year at the NSW Water Safety Awards in conjunction with the AUSTSWIM NSW Awards of Excellence.