Surf chief’s be safe plea
VIGILANCE and communication was needed to curb the Geelong region’s horror summer of drownings, the nation’s lifesaving chief says.
Surf Life Saving Australia president Graham Ford was in Ocean Grove yesterday for the Wieland Shield, a biennial competition between Californian and Victorian lifesavers.
Mr Ford said that while drowning statistics had been relatively low in 2017, last month there had been a concerning rise in the number of deaths cases.
A 41-year-old father from Melbourne drowned while try- and near-drowning ing to help his children at Skenes Creek beach just four days before Christmas.
Last week, two police offi- cers helped swimmers struggling in the surf at Cumberland River Beach — the second time the duo had been involved in a rescue at the beach in less than a month.
“You cannot afford to be complacent around the water, no matter how much experience you think you may have,” Mr Ford said.
“There were 19 drownings around Australia last month, several of which occurred in Victoria. One is too many. Something like five of those (drowning victims) were children aged between 11 and 15 years, so it’s important that we as a community and parents in particular remind our young people about water safety.”
Mr Ford said non-fatal drowning data was often overlooked with many swimmers plucked from the jaws of death sustaining life-altering injuries.
“When we hear about nonfatal drowning injuries, we think ‘that’s OK’ because that person has lived,” he said. “What isn’t known by those who haven’t had personal or family experience of non-fatal drownings, is the sometimes irreparable damage it can cause.”
Formed from the Mel- bourne 1956 Olympics, the Wieland Shield is part of a longstanding relationship between the Los Angeles County Lifeguards and Victorian State Surf Life Saving Association.
Victorian lifesavers travelled to Los Angeles in 1965 and their Californian colleagues returned the compliment in 1967, taking part in the first official games at Portsea and Ocean Grove.
The shield was named for the American consul-general to Australia in the 1960s, William A. Wieland, who aimed to strengthen links between the two nations.