An ode to surf life saving: The best sport you’ve probably never watched

In the Bulletin’s new weekly opinion column The Long Run, surf life saving writer Eliza Reilly takes a look at one of the world’s most underrated sports.

AT the start of 2019, as a woman who grew up in Western Australia, I didn’t have a full appreciation of those in the surf lifesaving world.

I’d never heard of Shannon Eckstein, nor Courtney Hancock, and I had never watched Australian cinematic classic The Coolangatta Gold.

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As a kid I remember laughing when my mum suggested that I enrol in nippers at my local club of North Cottesloe in the sleepy town of Perth.

Round two of the Nutri-Grain ironman/woman series. Held at Burleigh Heads. Pic Mike Batterham

It’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, to make room for surf lifesaving when I’m going to be the first ever woman drafted to the West Coast Eagles’ AFLW side, I thought wishfully.

How times have changed.

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Although I don’t claim to own the athletic prowess of those in surf lifesaving, despite spending the past 11 months reporting on our ironmen and women, I am now as passionate about surf lifesaving as I am footy. Imagine being the fittest, fastest and best athlete in a field of 20 only for a wave to pick up all of your competitors and sweep them up alongside you.

Imagine a sport where you have to master four entirely different and equally challenging disciplines.

Imagine training hours a day, getting up before light floods the beach and returning as that same light retreats, but not being able to call yourself a professional athlete because a day job comes in between.

Round two of the Nutri-Grain ironman/woman series. Held at Burleigh Heads. Winner Lana Rogers. Pic Mike Batterham

This is the reality for our surf lifesaving stars and it makes for one of the most gripping sports on the planet.

But they simply don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Surf lifesaving is steeped in more than 100 years of tradition.

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The sport began and continues to be a way for our surf lifesavers to showcase the skills and physical ability required to save a life.

Those surf stars who you see on television and racing at your local beach are the exact same people who protect you as you take to the water at your local beach.

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They watch over you and I’m sure as hell they’d appreciate it if you tuned in to watch them. I know I now do.