History

Over 100 years ago the world was a much smaller place. The ocean was almost as remote to man as the face of the moon. In the early days a band of brothers would grow to become known as Surf Life Savers. There were no IRBs, no rescue tubes, no rescue boards, no jet skis, no jet engine helicopters, just a belt and a reel and your mates to back you up.

“Surf” as we affectionately known it was born out of the spirit of the ANZACs. The sacrifices are the same. Mates risking their lives to save others. It’s grown to become an organisation so vast, so diverse, touching so many lives in so many places beyond the beach that it has become part of the very fabric of what it means to be Australian.

SLSQ Point Danger Branch as we know it today is made up of 11 clubs spanning between Tallebudgera SLSC to the north and Rainbow Bay SLSC to the south.

But it wasn’t always this way. Our story begins some 117 years ago, back in 1907.

The first surf lifesaving club was founded at Bondi in February 1907. Several others were set up soon after. On 18 October 1907 these clubs formed the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales. Surf lifesaving clubs soon spread around the country, and the surf lifesavers became an Australian icon. Since 1907, it is estimated that lifesavers have rescued more than 685,000 people. 

Surf Life Saving exists to save lives, create great Australians and build better communities. With 181,572 members and 314 affiliated Surf Life Saving clubs, Surf Life Saving Australia represents the largest volunteer movement of its kind in the world.

Over 100 years ago the world was a much smaller place. The ocean was almost as remote to man as the face of the moon. In the early days a band of brothers would grow to become known as Surf Life Savers. There were no IRBs, no rescue tubes, no rescue boards, no jet skis, no jet engine helicopters, just a belt and a reel and your mates to back you up.

“Surf” as we affectionately known it was born out of the spirit of the ANZACs. The sacrifices are the same. Mates risking their lives to save others. It’s grown to become an organisation so vast, so diverse, touching so many lives in so many places beyond the beach that it has become part of the very fabric of what it means to be Australian.

SLSQ Point Danger Branch as we know it today is made up of 11 clubs spanning between Tallebudgera SLSC to the north and Rainbow Bay SLSC to the south.

But it wasn’t always this way. Our story begins some 117 years ago, back in 1907.

The first surf lifesaving club was founded at Bondi in February 1907. Several others were set up soon after. On 18 October 1907 these clubs formed the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales. Surf lifesaving clubs soon spread around the country, and the surf lifesavers became an Australian icon. Since 1907, it is estimated that lifesavers have rescued more than 685,000 people. 

Surf Life Saving exists to save lives, create great Australians and build better communities. With 181,572 members and 314 affiliated Surf Life Saving clubs, Surf Life Saving Australia represents the largest volunteer movement of its kind in the world.

Point Danger Branch has been full of trailblazing members and their clubs. Members who have pushed the boundaries in their chosen areas of interest, who often faced criticism but preserved and were ultimately successful in developing and pioneering rescue equipment and techniques – many of which are still in use today. It is because of these members that the Branch can lay claim to many “firsts”:

• The first reel line and belt made it to Queensland in 1908 (bought in by the Bennett brothers) and stored at Lally’s Qld Hotel in Coolangatta.
• The first Lifesaving Exhibition on a Queensland Beach occurred in 1908 with a contingent of Bondi Lifesavers attending Greenmount Beach.
• The first Surf Life Saving awards in Queensland were gained at Tweed Heads & Coolangatta SLSC in 1916.
• The first paid Lifeguard was contracted by Kirra SLSC in 1922. He received a payment of 70 pounds for his services.
• The first mobile patrols were implemented in 1964 at Pacific SLSC and North Kirra SLSC and were established in response and concern to two previous drownings and a number of near fatalities.
• The first helicopter patrols were trialled on the Gold Coast in the 1965/66 season at the suggestion and push by PDB Life Members Jack Gordon and JR Winders.
• The first legislated Council By-Laws, while facilitated by SLSQ, PDB Life Members Jack Gordon, JR Winders and Maurie Webb were instrumental in the inception of these with the latter two being part of the 4-person committee who spoke to parliament.
• The first Iron Lung was given to SLSQ and granted to PDB in 1939.
• The idea of providing “Hints to Bathers” was created in an audio form and played over the PA systems at our beaches from 1939.
• PDB was the first Branch in Queensland to secure over $350,000 in funding to hire two development officers.
• Inventions such as:
  • The Ross Safety Belt – an inflatable belt designed by Earle Smith AM which was based on the Mae West life jacket used by pilots in World War II and allowed for mouth-to mouth or mouth-to-nose resuscitation to commence in the water.
  • The “Torpedo Buoy” which was developed in the USA and bought to Point Danger Branch by Jack McMaster. It was used dramatically in a rescue at North Kirra by John Cunningham.
  •  The motorised surf boat first appeared on Queensland beaches in 1944 with the suggestion of the use of Japanese amphibious cars. While this notion was dismissed, the first powered surf boats did not emerge until the 1957/1958 season.
  • Implementation of the early shark towers.

And of course the Branch instrumental in the establishment of the organisation now known as Surf Life Saving Queensland in 1930 and subsequent Branch structure as we know it today.

Point Danger Branch has not only been actively involved in the Surf Sports scene but can boost a number of first and some impressive results:

• The first surf sports carnival held in Queensland was in 1916 on Greenmount Beach. The competition even held a surf shooters competition.
• The first surf championships to be held in Queensland under SLSA were stagged by the Branch in 1928 at Kirra SLSC.
• Queensland made its debut into the Australian Championships in 1928 and saw its first championship success in 1929 with Jack Ajax (TH&C SLSC) taking gold in the Junior Belt event.
• The first “true” State Championships were held at Coolangatta Beach in 1932.
• The Branch implemented the first carnival draw system in 1933 whereby draws were made by two persons to ensure fairness.
• In 1947, Kirra SLSC made history as the first non-NSW club to win the Australian Senior R&R Championships (granting them the title of Australian Premiers). In the same year, Currumbin SLSC won the Junior Surf Boat Championships.
• The first Royal Carnival held in Queensland was at Coolangatta Beach in March 1963, before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, the carnival was unique as it was held on a weekday immediately following a special area public holiday. Lifesavers from southeast Queensland and Far North Coast Branch (NSW) put on a spectacular display, particularly with a series of exciting surf boat races, despite the miserable weather conditions and downpours.

Did you know – While the sight of hundreds of Nippers on our beach each weekend is now a common occurrence, the origins of the first Junior Surf Life Saving Club in the world (as far as can be ascertained) was formed at Kirra SLSC in 1920?

The original “brigade” included five members of the Moore family, three members of the Winders family, two members of the Allen family and another three lads who were all residents of Coolangatta or Tweed Heads and were within the 9-14 age group.

The club operated on Kirra Beach from the beginning of 1920 until 1924. Bill Winders constructed a reel for them from pine and an old paint drum for a barrel to use, prior to them securing the funding to purchase a proper reel, line and belt in November 1921.

Other junior brigades and clubs were established up and down the coast (and even held inter-club carnivals) before it was decided on 26 August 1967 to form the Point Danger Branch Nippers Association with Andy Frizzell OBE OAM – dubbed the Grandfather of Modern Day Nippers – as President, and the rest is history.