Surf Lifesaving Burleigh Gold Coast: Huge risk taken by swimmers

Over just a short period of time, a shocking number of people were seen taking a massive risk in the water at Burleigh, leaving lifesavers scratching their heads.

A KILLER waits in the waves off Burleigh Point.

Like the sirens of Greek mythology and the German legend of Lorelei, it lures swimmers into the surf in the most dangerous of conditions and within seconds of them losing their footing or foolishly thinking they can float safely, begins sweeping them out to sea.

What is so puzzling for observers – and frustrating for lifeguards – is that in many instances the swimmers who have been rescued or have managed to make it back to shore have stepped around the red flags placed right there on the water’s edge.

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A permanent rip has developed, channelling away the large volumes of water that have been driven around the point and up on to the beach in recent weeks as weather conditions have produced a board rider’s dream. All that water has to go somewhere, and in a phenomenon evident all the way along the Gold Coast’s beaches, savage rips have been in play, creating deep holes and gutters as the water columns have rushed back to the sea.

View of a potentially deadly rip at Burleigh Heads from Rick Shores restaurant. Photo: John Affleck.

This week, sitting at Burleigh with an amazing meal served with a view to die for, I watched – stunned – over a period of two and half hours as seven people entered the water right there next to the rocks, dodging the red flag. Evidently they thought it was not for swimmers of their calibre.

Well, call me boring but having swum all my life, including open water events and briefly as a surf lifesaver, I won’t swim there or anywhere else in such rough conditions without the red and yellow flags where the beach is patrolled.

More than 20 years ago I helped pull a child out of the water and up on to the rocks at that same spot. On quiet days it is a sheltered haven, but when there is considerable movement of water it is not worth the risk. That is why in rough conditions lifeguards and lifesavers set their flags a few hundred metres away.

The danger stands out like the proverbial part of a dog’s anatomy. The water looks as though it is rushing out, with tell-tale rippling and farther out, turned brown by the sand churned up as the column rips through the sand bar.

But the flag was ignored time and again on Tuesday afternoon.

The red flag flying on the beach. Photo: John Affleck.

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A lifeguard later told me it’s happening all the time, and mentioned a rescue performed there Tuesday afternoon – which I witnessed – and another further north along the beach that he said had been a very close thing, with an exhausted male dragged from the water.

The Tuesday afternoon incident he mentioned had to be the greatest example of hubris I’d seen that day.

It involved a young couple. She playfully entered the surf with a hop and a grin. He went for the big entry, completing an aerial somersault over the first wave to land on his feet. The judges were impressed, but worried.

“Are they mad?’’ my friend asked as we sat stunned.

The view from from Rick Shores. Photo: John Affleck.

Playful frolicking soon turned to looks of consternation and worried glances back to shore as the pair – the young woman in particular – struggled against the rip. He was able to swim and was trying to drag her across the rip to safety, but her strength was flagging.

We were on our feet and about to dial 000, but by this time the lifeguard vehicle was heading toward the point, taking the lifeguard away from the flagged area he was monitoring about 200m up the beach.

By the time he was on his board and reached the couple, and that was within seconds, the young woman had managed to get her footing in shallow water next to the rocks and struggled to the beach unassisted, exhausted and clearly unimpressed. Her beau managed to swim in – too proud to accept the lifeguard’s offer of help I guess – and offered her his hand to walk up the beach, but she was having none of it.

Earlier we’d watched another male help his lady friend out of the rip. He had led her into the water in the first place and seemed to find the whole episode amusing.

A lone swimmer made it to shore soon after, but was tired.

And a couple of young blokes who did not look like locals raced into the water soon after the lifeguard had returned to his flagged patrol and found themselves in similar difficulties, but managed to struggle out of the rip and left very quickly.

We’d finished eating but had been sitting there trying to enjoy a cool drink and the ocean outside, but at this point I apologised to my friend and said I was sorry, but with all those idiots out there I could stay no longer.

My view to die for risked becoming a view of a death.