A historic journey replicating a feat completed half a century ago ended with great fanfare at Coolangatta last week, after members of Soldiers Beach SLSC drove an Inflatable Rescue Boat from Sydney Harbour to the Gold Coast for the 2024 World Lifesaving Championships.
Following in the footsteps of club members 50 years ago who completed the same journey to showcase the durability and reliability of the then-new rescue craft, the Soldiers Beach crew was proud to celebrate the important milestone with a nod to the pioneers of yesteryear.
In all, the trip of more than 700km took four days to complete through various testing conditions – a truly heroic effort that was admired across the movement and fittingly, when the boat came into view for the first time off Greenmount Beach, earned a hero’s welcome.
“The reception went above and beyond what we were expecting, they treated us like rock stars,” Soldiers Beach Club President, Simon Falconer said.
“They stopped the carnival and let us lead in a flotilla and gave us a guard of honour when we hit the beach, we were pretty much told to go and take it all in, we will take care of your boat.
“Graeme Lewis who was one of the originals to do the trip all those years ago was there, it was really incredible.”
From the early hours of Monday morning, 2 September when Bondi SBLSC members helped to launch two IRBs under police escort at Kirribilli, to the reception clubbies offered as the crew came to shore in Coolangatta on the Thursday afternoon, the trip brought out the best in the Surf Life Saving community.
The crew also had the opportunity to rest each day at Ingenia Holiday Parks locations along the coastline – a wonderful donation from one of SLSNSW’s partners.
“Every club we stopped in at along the way as well, they were nothing short of fantastic,” Simon said.
“From storing the boats to members meeting us and helping us, food and beverages were put on sometimes, they were there late in the arvo and first thing in the morning.”
It’s not to say there weren’t gruelling aspects – Simon admits to “friction in some places” after so many hours in the boat – but in all the experience was one they wouldn’t change for the world and is inspiring grand plans for the near future for the club.
“It was challenging with the different conditions, but we knew we were going to hit some adverse conditions and safety protocols were in place,” he said.
“Overall, I’m extremely impressed with everyone who had things to do with this. We had youth, life members, associates, so many people involved. To see everyone working together, building that teamwork, it all just worked well.
“There’s even talks of another trip happening in a few years’ time, we might head down south.”
Tuesday 10 September 2024