Opinion: When it comes to staying safe at the beach it’s not just about you

We close beaches because not only is it not safe for you to swim, it’s not safe for us to rescue you, writes Kate Kyriacou.

If you’ve ever been held under by a set, you’ll understand when I say that there is nothing more foolish than not having a healthy respect for the surf.

Back in the mid-90s, I did my bronze medallion, put on the red and yellow, and like thousands of other Australians, started spending my weekends on patrol at the beach.

I’ve been doing it now for more than 25 years. About 18 of those years I spent racing surfboats – often in some very challenging conditions.

Surfboats roll, rowers get thrown into the ocean. Most of the time your skill and knowledge get you back to the boat, or back to shore.

Sometimes you find yourself a long way out, monster waves churning around you. You hold your breath as a wave breaks and find yourself thrown around under the water like a ragdoll, held down, with so much sand churning around that it’s impossible to work out which way is up.

You surface just in time for the next wave to do the same thing. Your lungs feel like they’re bursting as you try to convince yourself not to panic.

This is why surf lifesavers have a healthy respect for the surf. We’ve been in it plenty of times – we go in it to pull you out when you get into trouble.

Many beaches were closed across the South East, including Currumbin on the Gold Coast, as huge seas from Cyclone Seth batter the coastline. Picture: Adam Head

Today I am a patrol captain at a Sunshine Coast beach – responsible for the safety of not only beachgoers, but my team. My patrol was rostered on yesterday afternoon as the swell from ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth kicked up big heavy waves that crashed onto the bank.

The beach was closed when I arrived and I made the – easy – decision to leave it that way.

Surf lifesavers don’t close beaches for no reason. We close them because not only is it not safe for you to swim, it’s not safe for us to rescue you.

I have some incredible athletes on my team. I also have teenagers – young, super enthusiastic kids with great knowledge of the surf, who give up their weekends to help others.

Yesterday, they went out into that surf on multiple occasions to rescue people who’d gone swimming. It wasn’t safe for them to do that – and that’s why the beach was closed.

But unfortunately, much of our day was spent either telling people to get out of the water or pulling them out when they got into trouble.

A swimmer at Burleigh Beach on the Gold Coast is advised to leave the water by Lifeguards Picture: Adam Head

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll saw the same thing while spending time on the Gold Coast.

“I spent a couple of days down the Gold Coast … and the beaches were all closed and still the amount of people in the water was extraordinary – with surf lifesavers constantly driving up and down the beaches to tell people to get out,” she said. “And immediately, the second they drove past, people were back in the water.”

It only takes a second for someone to get into real trouble. A young girl was standing in shallow water and was knocked over by a wave and dragged out to sea.

An experienced kite surfer came off his board and had to release his harness. Lifeguards down the beach had tried to find him on a jetski and within moments he was in front of the surf club – where we pulled him out – having been held underwater and pushed down the beach by the current.

I had a lot of sympathy for both – they didn’t enjoy the experience. But my sympathy was running short for the people who argued with us, or ignored us, or moved further down the beach to swim somewhere else just as dangerous.

If you are comfortable putting your own life at risk, that’s your decision. But think about the other lives you’re risking.

Kate Kyriacou is The Courier-Mail Crime Editor.

Surfers in action at the Noosa National Park taking advantage of the swell whipped up by ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth. Picture: Lachie Millard