SEASON FINISHES BUT FATHER-SON BOND ENRICHED
WHAT started out as a holiday to Coolangatta has become a labour of love for father and son Steve and Jacob Ward, now entering their third year of surf lifesaving together.
Every shift, the duo make the 90-minute trip down from Brisbane to patrol the beach they’ve fallen in love with.
Steve said it gives him a good chance to talk to his 19-year-old son, opening up a line of dialogue between them they didn’t have before.
The two were part of a ceremony at Coolangatta yesterday to mark the end of the surf lifesaving season.
Today the red and yellow flags will come down for the last time until the season begins again in Spring.
“I noticed that when we were in the water, he would talk a lot more, and so I suggested this as something he and I could do together,” he said. “It brings him out of his shell, he’s not an extrovert like his father is, so it gives him confidence to go out and do a few rescues, help people out.”
Though he wouldn’t comment on how competitive the two of them are, mum Karen said it was more than they let on.
“They do have competitions, they’ll have runs up and down the beach so you’ll often see them competing for who can run the fastest, swim the furthest,” she said.
Finishing on 425 rescues on the Coast this season, Gold Coast Surf Lifesaving Services co-ordinator Nathan Fife said lifesavers had done an incredible job.
“That’s 425 lives saved, and people who get to go back to their families, so without our lifesavers, people wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beach,” he said. “It’s their time now to have some time off and get ready, get prepared for next season.”