For 19-year-old Mackie Hunter, a life dedicated to the beach and saving lives was never a question of if, but when.
Born into a lineage of surf lifesavers (her parents met at a bronze medallion camp), Hunter was just five when she started the nippers program at Portsea.
“I started it too young because I was too eager to get into the program,” she said.
She’ll be one of Victoria’s 10 elite surf lifesavers travelling to the United States in July to go head-to-head against the Los Angeles County Lifeguards at the Wieland Shield surf sports competition.
The biennial competition, in early August, has been running since 1967, but Victorians haven’t competed in the US for 10 years, due to COVID-19 and the competition running in Victoria last year.
Coach Matt Henderson said the highly skilled team of 18 to 28-year-olds would be in the US for three weeks, and compete in other carnivals as well as swimming, board and surf ski races, surf rescue relays, beach relay and ironman and ironwoman events.
The shield is part of the International Surf Festival, which also includes open water swimming and body surfing competitions.
Henderson said an event that was unique to LA was racing under lights at night.
“It’s not something we do here. You can’t see what you can’t see, though,” he said.
Ciara Walsh, 21, who is studying teaching but also hopes to work with Life Saving Victoria or in swimming or sports, said wildlife in Australia was “a bit more extreme” than in California to allow for night swim events.
“We close the beach when we’re on patrol before it gets dark,” she said. Although very unlikely, dusk and dawn can be risky for sharks.
Harris Henderson, 18 (Torquay), and Mackie Hunter, 19 (Portsea), will travel to California with the Lifesaving Victoria Wieland Shield representative team.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Harris Henderson, 17, from Torquay Surf Life Saving Club said he’s only had to do two rescues of people who were swept out in a rip.
“Ideally, you don’t have to do that. I’m grateful I haven’t had to do too many,” he said.
“It’s ideal that no one gets pulled out, we want beaches to be as safe as possible,” he said.
He, alongside the team, is keen not only to compete, but also to swap tips and tricks with their expert surf lifesaving counterparts in California.
Hunter – who has competed internationally in swimming, including in the Commonwealth Games trials – said they’d spend a busy public holiday alongside LA lifeguards patrolling Venice Beach.
“It’s going to be very busy, two per tower. One Victorian and a Californian lifeguard. We’ll bounce experience off each other. I come from a surf beach and a lot of our problems arise from surf conditions,” she said.
“I imagine on Venice Beach, there’ll be a lot more on-land problem-solving.”
Life Saving Victoria’s Wieland Shield team includes members from surf lifesaving clubs at Half Moon Bay, Torquay, Mordialloc and Portsea.
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