New campaign to overcome our biggest beach killer

Surf Life Saving (SLS) has launched a public safety campaign, to educate Australians about rip currents and how to survive them. Although the key surf safety message for all beachgoers remains ‘swim between the red and yellow flags’, the new campaign will provide people with the simplest way to escape a rip. The campaign’s tagline “to escape a rip, swim parallel to the beach” is specifically targeted at males aged between 25 and 34, who are over-represented in beach drowning data and who often swim at unpatrolled beaches. The aim of the campaign is to teach people how to survive a rip in case there isn’t anyone available to rescue them.

Visit our new rip currents website at www.ripcurrents.com.au

Rescue 2010 - updated program released

The Lifesaving World Championships Rescue 2010 will take place in the coastal city of Alexandria in Egypt from 2 to 17 October 2010. Pool Events will take place in the Olympic Swimming Pool of Alexandria and Ocean events will take place in Mamoura Beach. Over 3,000 athletes and more then 1,000 delegates, officials and team managers will be welcomed in the competitions.

Updated program has now been released - click here

For further details on Rescue 2010 visit www.rescue2010.com

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series just got a whole lot hotter

The summer has just got a whole lot hotter with Surf Life Saving Australia’s announcement today of an exciting shake up to the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, following the renewal of its sponsorship deal with Kellogg Australia for the next three years.

The 40 best Ironmen and Ironwomen in the country will race off for a Series record $250,000 in prizemoney throughout an exciting, new-look, re-vamped five-round series starting in earnest at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast on January 16 and 17.

It will feature 12 athletes (six men and six women) who qualified from last season’s Series – including the sport’s biggest names – Shannon Eckstein, Matt Poole, Naomi Flood, Kristyl Smith and Elizabeth Pluimers.

They will race against 22 athletes, including the likes of Hayley Bateup and Dean Mercer, who will have to qualify for the Series at the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Iron Man Trial at Tugun, on the Gold Coast on December 5 and 6.

The new-look Series will be broadcast on the Seven Network and will culminate in the final at Sydney’s North Cronulla Beach on February 21.

For more details check out the new website at www.ironmanseries.com.au.

National Coastal Safety Report released

9 October 2009: Australian men are nearly nine times more likely to drown at the beach than women according to the just released Surf Life Saving Australia National Coastal Safety Report. And it is young men who are most at risk with those aged between 30 and 39 recording the highest number of deaths (overall, men accounted for 88% of coastal drowning deaths in Australia). For more details, including how to download the full 2009 National Coastal Safety report, click here .

Want to become a surf lifesaver?

Surf lifesaving is about satisfaction. Having fun, being physically fit, learning teamwork and aquatic safety skills, competing in surf sports, and helping make swimming in the surf a safer pastime. SLSA can offer a range of opportunities which will promote:

A healthy lifestyle.

A sense of pride.

A sense of responsibility and purpose.

Positive social relationships.

There is a place for everyone in surf lifesaving. Click here for more information.

The Surf Life Saving Online Shop is open for business

We are happy to announce the launch of our new online store. Click here to explore!

What’s in stock: The store stocks most of the essentials needed by clubs – from manuals, uniforms, patrol caps & rescue tubes to caps and brim hats for sun safety.

Improvement over time: As well as being a one-stop-shop one of our key aims is to reduce the cost of gear to clubs where possible. Compare the prices of patrol caps, rescue tubes, and rashies for example to see that this has already started. Over time we aim to expand this range greatly to include first aid and resuscitation gear to radios, rashies, merchandise and more.

Club Accounts: Verified accounts have been set up for every club and the login and password details emailed to the “official” email address as held on the ‘SurfGuard’ database. If you haven’t received your club’s details please contact your club administrator, or email onlineshop@slsa.asn.au. For safety reasons much of the gear (such as uniforms) can only be bought by verified club account holders.

Feedback: All suggestions are welcome for ways in which the store may be improved, for eg. gear that may be needed but currently not available. We look forward to hearing from you.

33rd Edition - Public Safety and Aquatic Rescue Training Manual

formerly known as Bronze Medallion training manual
This manual is available for sale now. The online purchase of manuals please visit Surf Life Saving’s new Online Shop by clicking here.

Click here for more information about the manual.

For your club Training Officer workshop a PowerPoint presentation is available to assist you in understanding the changes in the manual.

Ecosurf

The Ecosurf website is now up and running. Clubs are urged to get online and start plugging in information for their grant applications for tanks and water saving devices, available via the Australian Government’s Water for the Future program.

Under this program’s national rainwater and grey water funding initiative, every surf life saving club in Australia is eligible to apply for up to $10,000 to help with the installation of water saving and water efficient devices.

Visit www.ecosurf.org.au for full details of the grants.

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