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Celebrating Excellence
Surf Life Saving’s latest stars were certainly shining
the night of the 2015 Surf Life Saving Australia
Awards of Excellence, at the City Recital Hall in
Sydney in October.
“I see the award as a reflection of what we
are doing in Victoria, providing and building
on a very professional service.”
Every year the awards recognise the amazing dedication and skills
of lifeguards and lifesavers from around the country, and this year
was no different.
Luke Plant from Victoria’s Australian Lifeguard Services took out the
prestigious DHL Lifeguard of the Year award. Plant’s career has
progressed steadily over his six years as a professional lifeguard and
this year he was heavily involved in the development of a rookie
program in Victoria.
Billy Jackson, a 57-year-old Scot from Brighton Surf Life Saving Club
in South Australia took out the DHL Lifesaver of the Year award.
Jackson, who once had a fear of the ocean, moved to Australia from
Scotland 20 years ago. In 2014/15, Jackson clocked a staggering
215 hours of volunteer patrols for his local club and is the first South
Australian winner of the Lifesaver of the Year award since 2008.
On a night where awards were sent to all corners of the country,
Queensland’s Mermaid Beach SLSC won the DHL Club of the Year
after being a nominee in the same category last year. Judges
applauded the club’s long-term plan for strategic sustainability and
growth and the positive connection to the local community.
Sunshine Beach SLSC’s Warick Redwood took out the DHL
Volunteer of the Year award. Redwood introduced some innovative
programs at the Queensland club resulting in a boost in youth
membership by 60 per cent.
Surf Life Saving Australia also welcomed two new life members, with
Burning Palms SLSC stalwart Peter Pearce rewarded for his 49 years
of service at all levels of the movement, and Broadbeach SLSC’s
Mark Fife, on a history-making night for the SLSA Chair of Lifesaving.
Fife was also inducted into the SLSA Hall of Fame, after being the
national Lifesaver of the Year and Volunteer of the Year in previous
years. He is the first person to have ever received all four awards.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of meritorious
awards to 15 noteworthy lifesavers for outstanding rescues
performed throughout the season.
Editor's note: APOLA were not able to be reached to supply their
awards of excellence results.
DHL Lifeguard
of the Year
Luke Plant
Growing up on Phillip Island was the perfect training
ground for Victoria’s Luke Plant—winner of this
year’s DHL Lifeguard of the Year award.
With sand dunes as his childhood backyard and always having a
love of water-related activities—surfing, swimming, sailing or board
paddling—it makes sense that Plant was attracted to lifeguarding.
“I think it would have been the season after doing my Bronze that I
realised being a paid lifeguard would be a great summer job. I had
seen the guys working at Woolamai—their skills and lifestyle really
appealed to me,” Plant explained.
Plant has been a professional lifeguard with Life Saving Victoria for
six years, and during the past year he has taken on the role of Chief
Lifeguard at Phillip Island. He restructured the Cowes lifeguard
service, enabling the beach to be open and patrolled while search
and rescues are underway, and was accepted into the Westpac Life
Saver Helicopter team. Currently studying medicine,
Plant moves back to Phillip Island every summer, as
well as visiting whenever he can.
“In recent seasons I have had to do a little study to
make sure I go back to uni without forgetting
everything. I have one year of medicine to go in a
post-graduate course at Melbourne University, so
that takes up a fair chunk of my time during the year,”
he said.
"Winning DHL Lifeguard of the Year has been a
surreal experience for me. I strive to do a great job
over the summer and I’m always looking at how we
can improve things, but I really love the work so it
comes quite easily. I see the award as a reflection of
what we are doing in Victoria, providing and building
on a very professional service, as well as my
experience and the things I’ve learnt at Woolamai
Beach SLSC.”
DHL Lifeguard of the Year runners-up
Alex Daw
Australian Lifeguard
Service, SA
Alex has been a highly valued member of a small
lifeguard service for a number of years, providing
core and extended lifeguard services. He has
assisted with the training and delivery of lifeguard programs and
services as well as coordinating Holdfast Bay lifeguards, being
a role model for those in his local area.
Jorge McCulloch
Australian Lifeguard
Service, QLD
Jorge is a role model to both the youth and
senior lifeguards in the North Barrier Region,
due to his professionalism and dedication to his
role. He has initiated scenario-based training for lifeguards during
shifts to ensure lifeguard skills are up to date as well as assisted with
proficiencies and training to help the trainers and assessors when
assessing competencies.
Mark Pattrick
Australian Lifeguard
Service, WA
Mark is a highly valued member of the lifeguard
service. He was involved in a number of surf
rescues during the 2014/15 season, enabling
him to achieve the Western Australian State Award for Lifeguard
of the Year in 2015. Mark goes above and beyond to mentor,
encourage and motivate other lifeguards.
Ken Walsh
Australian Lifeguard
Service, NSW
Ken is a dedicated and hardworking lifeguard.
He fostered a great working relationship with
all the surf clubs in the Shoalhaven area, police,
ambulance service and fire brigade, including them in the Lifeguard
Training Day. He is continually providing beach education through
either the media or talking to members of the public about
surf safety.
52 Australian Lifeguard Magazine
Australian Lifeguard Magazine 53