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Speaker 1: We'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land

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Speaker 1: on which this podcast was produced, the Gadigle people of

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Speaker 1: the orination. We pay our respects to Elder's past and present.

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Speaker 1: This episode contains discussion of suicide. If this raises any

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Speaker 1: issues for you, support is available through the links and

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Speaker 1: phone numbers in the show notes.

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Speaker 2: It's the height of summer and we're on the sands

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Speaker 2: of Sydney's iconic Bondai Beach, with the sun beating down

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Speaker 2: and the waves crashing. It's an idealic spot to spend

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Speaker 2: the day and that's why tens of thousands of beach

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Speaker 2: goers flock here on a day like this. But Bruce Hoppo'

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Speaker 2: Hopkins isn't here for us swim and an ice cream.

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Speaker 2: Hopo is the head lifeguard and star of Bondai Rescue.

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Speaker 2: Surrounded by cameras and crew. There's a lot at stake here.

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Speaker 2: When someone gets into trouble, it's his job to return

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Speaker 2: them to safety, with their family and friends, tourists and

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Speaker 2: the world watching. I'm at Middleton and this is head

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Speaker 2: game today and insight into the pressure of being one

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Speaker 2: of the world's most influential lifeguards and sat opposite me

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Speaker 2: right now is Bruce hop o' hopkins. Bondai rescue is

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Speaker 2: what you're known for, but ultimately you've been saving lives

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Speaker 2: from a young age. How and when did you first

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Speaker 2: realize that you wanted to be a lifeguard, because I

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Speaker 2: know you Ozzies love the sea, love the beach. And

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Speaker 2: how did you get into it?

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Speaker 3: Well, look started when I was doing a lot of

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Speaker 3: ocean racing, Like I'm in racing and there's the big

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Speaker 3: cool and get of gold, and everyone wanted to be

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Speaker 3: an im in at a young age, and I had

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Speaker 3: to find a job that fitted in with being able

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Speaker 3: to do a lot of training and then also been

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Speaker 3: able to compete, and lifeguard was the perfect perfect match.

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Speaker 3: It was you got paid, I got to betray and

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Speaker 3: then also on top of that, I got to you know,

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Speaker 3: look after people and at the beach and rescue people

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Speaker 3: and save people's lives.

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Speaker 4: So I had the best of all worlds in one hit.

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Speaker 2: And when's the first time you actually witnessed the sort

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Speaker 2: of a lifeguard in action and you thought, cod wow,

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Speaker 2: these these people really deceive lives.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I looked up to a lot of

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Speaker 3: the lifeguards growing up as a kid. You know, they

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Speaker 3: were down there and they're doing the rescues, and it

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Speaker 3: was something that he looked up and thought, how amazing that,

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Speaker 3: you know, these guys are going out massive surf, they're

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Speaker 3: going out in small surf, they're doing resuscitations, they're rescuing people.

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Speaker 3: It's just something that really was admirable. You know, we

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Speaker 3: really looked up to all the lifeguards and I didn't

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Speaker 3: think one day when I was older, I'd end up

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Speaker 3: being one myself. But when I did become a lifeguard,

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Speaker 3: you become really proud and excited to be a part

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Speaker 3: of that team.

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Speaker 2: So it's sort of like a natural progression, right you're

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Speaker 2: in the sea all the time. He was hanging around

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Speaker 2: that sort of community, watching people do their thing, and

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Speaker 2: like you said, you know you could do that along

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Speaker 2: where you're training. Was there, especially back in the day,

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Speaker 2: you know, when you when you look at lifeguards, did

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Speaker 2: the whole aura of you know, being a chick magnet

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Speaker 2: and you know, running along the beach and because you know,

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Speaker 2: we all we all watched the Baywatch, Was there ever

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Speaker 2: an element of that that intrigued you into the job.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well it did, because you know, you turn up

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Speaker 3: the beach. There's plenty of girls around, There's plenty of

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Speaker 3: different people coming from all especially Bonda is all around

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Speaker 3: the world people are coming and visiting Bondalai and yeah,

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Speaker 3: flocks of them. So it was something that yeah interesting.

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Speaker 3: It was just a great environment to be in. And

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Speaker 3: you know, some days at Bondo, you go down to

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Speaker 3: the south end, you know, you feel like you're in Italy.

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Speaker 3: You could be feeling like you're in Sweden, you feel

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Speaker 3: like you're in England, depending on what you know. There's

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Speaker 3: that many different nationalities are around, and it's just changed

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Speaker 3: the whole.

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Speaker 4: The dynamic of the beach is amazing.

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Speaker 2: And was there ever a moment where before you got

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Speaker 2: into your lifeguarding, especially with being so active as you were,

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Speaker 2: there ever a moment that you realized how dangerous the

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Speaker 2: ocean can be.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you grow up respecting it.

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Speaker 3: I mean you start surfing at a young age in

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Speaker 3: Australia and you go out and you get held down

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Speaker 3: by plenty of waves and you realize that it's way

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Speaker 3: more powerful than what you are. So but you learn,

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Speaker 3: you learn where your limitations are, you learn on how

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Speaker 3: to use the ocean to your advantage and That's what

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Speaker 3: I've been lucky to grow up with, and I can

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Speaker 3: use the ocean to my advantage now rather than fight

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Speaker 3: against the water that you're saying when people do get

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Speaker 3: stuck in rips, they're fighting the water rather than just

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Speaker 3: letting themselves go and flow with it.

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Speaker 2: Because there's an art to it, Isn't that? How hard

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Speaker 2: is it to really study the ocean and how hard

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Speaker 2: is it to become a lifeguard here in Australia, especially

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Speaker 2: on the beaches.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it's really difficult because unless you've grown up with

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Speaker 3: it so just to learn it real quick.

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Speaker 4: It takes years and years and years.

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Speaker 3: To understand how the ocean works. And a lot of

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Speaker 3: people come over and think they're good enough to get

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Speaker 3: out there in the surf and next thing you know,

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Speaker 3: they get caught in trouble. And I've had people around

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Speaker 3: the world that said that, you know, they've lifeguarding or

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Speaker 3: they've done lifeguards before around the world, but it's either

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Speaker 3: in a pool that could be lake and a different

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Speaker 3: story when you get out of here with plenty of

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Speaker 3: waves and a lot of water moving. So it makes it,

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Speaker 3: you know, very difficult, and to become a lifeguard, it's

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Speaker 3: a big process to be able to get to that

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Speaker 3: level and have that skill.

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Speaker 4: And most of the time the people.

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Speaker 3: We get they've grown up with it and understand years nature. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, you learn quick as a kid.

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Speaker 3: You learn a bit quicker than you know that when

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Speaker 3: you're an adult, and just growing up with it just

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Speaker 3: makes it so much easier. And I mean by the

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Speaker 3: time you get to about eight nineteen and you're coming

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Speaker 3: on as a lifeguard, if you're coming that at that age,

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Speaker 3: you know, you've had a good fifteen sixteen years of

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Speaker 3: around the beaches and understanding how it all works. And

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Speaker 3: you know, I see young kids now that are four

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Speaker 3: or five six years old are getting out there on

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Speaker 3: little phone boards and you know they're learning. One day

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Speaker 3: they may be a lifeguard as well down the track

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Speaker 3: when we get a bit older.

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Speaker 2: What made you decide, right, this is what I want

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Speaker 2: to do. When was that, you know, because there's a

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Speaker 2: difference between doing the course becoming a lifeguard. But when

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Speaker 2: did you actually go, actually, I love what I do,

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Speaker 2: really really to use this as a career.

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Speaker 3: Well, when I first started, I thought I'll just do

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Speaker 3: it for five years. Five years was like you've got

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Speaker 3: given a senior lifeguard title, and I thought, I'll do

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Speaker 3: it five years and then move on to something else.

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Speaker 4: That time came.

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Speaker 3: And I thought I was sort of enjoying it. A

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Speaker 3: few people left that were the boss left, a few

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Speaker 3: other people were leaving at the time. Were rolling into

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Speaker 3: the Sydney Olympics in two thousand and I had the

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Speaker 3: vision of where lifeguarding was going to go. So back

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Speaker 3: in those days, it was really just a seasonal job

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Speaker 3: where you come in in September, finishing around April, and

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Speaker 3: that was it. You had to go find other work

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Speaker 3: in the winter. In the nineties, so but I could

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Speaker 3: see it being a professional and we'd lose all the

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Speaker 3: older guys because obviously that are families and couldn't sustain just.

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Speaker 2: Not working in the experience as well experience, and.

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Speaker 3: I thought, well, I think we can make this in

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Speaker 3: a permanent, a permanent, full time job career for people.

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Speaker 3: And once the Olympics hit, that was the the stepping

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Speaker 3: stone where we could really start. We had to work

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Speaker 3: longer because Olympics came in and around that August into

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Speaker 3: the September period, so we had to start a bit earlier,

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Speaker 3: and then we extended the season into the May because

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Speaker 3: the water was always still warmer as well into May,

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Speaker 3: so we only had a couple of months that was

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Speaker 3: you know, we weren't working, and eventually we just said

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Speaker 3: we'll try and go full time and then that was

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Speaker 3: the goal and get all the beaches full time and

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Speaker 3: Bondai was went full time, and then we look after

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Speaker 3: Bronnie and Tamarama as well in the way of the

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Speaker 3: council area, and then that went full time. And once

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Speaker 3: we had the beaches twelve months of the year, that

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Speaker 3: created everybody to then continue as a permanent lifeguard and

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Speaker 3: there's no more seasonal so and we retain a lot

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Speaker 3: more as well now because it's a full time permanent job.

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Speaker 3: So it's basically just got casuals who fill in the

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Speaker 3: shifts when we need gaps or guys are gone on leave.

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Speaker 3: Most of them are like paramedics or fieries or things

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Speaker 3: like that in emergency services and help out and yeah,

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Speaker 3: so it sort of came about that way from the

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Speaker 3: Olympics and I had this vision that I think we

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Speaker 3: can take it to another level and it was weird

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Speaker 3: that everyone left. I sort of fell into the head

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Speaker 3: lifeguard role without really even knowing it around the Olympic period.

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Speaker 2: And natural progression sort of thing.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it was just sort of happened that way.

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Speaker 3: And I didn't really understand at the time why they

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Speaker 3: just put me in there. But we had the stadium

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Speaker 3: as a ten thousand seat stadium that went onto the beach,

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Speaker 3: and high tide would block the beach because it was

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Speaker 3: hit in the back of the stand that was on BONDI.

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Speaker 3: They had the beach volleyball down there, and then so

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Speaker 3: we had to break it into two beaches, set at

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Speaker 3: the south end and then the north end, and we

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Speaker 3: came up with a you know, we put a tower

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Speaker 3: down the north end, had all the main areas at

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Speaker 3: the south because that's predominantly our worst areas, the south end,

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Speaker 3: and we just came up with a plan and a

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Speaker 3: patrolling strategy plan and put that in place and it

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Speaker 3: just really worked well. And I think then the councils thought, well,

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Speaker 3: we've done that, and the next thing, you know, they

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Speaker 3: put me in the role and we continue on that way,

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Speaker 3: and I'm going to stay and probably make this now

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Speaker 3: in my career rather than sort of after five years

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Speaker 3: I'm out of here to do something else.

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Speaker 4: And it was perfect.

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Speaker 3: Timing and without me even knowing or realizing, and then

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Speaker 3: I could just see where we needed to go with

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Speaker 3: it and how we needed to get the lifeguards to

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Speaker 3: a higher level.

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Speaker 4: And it was just lucky that that period happened.

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Speaker 3: And it wasn't long after that, you know, three four

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Speaker 3: years we changed the whole service and it became a

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Speaker 3: lot more professional and obviously we do a lot of

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Speaker 3: physical tests and we dropped the times way lower than

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Speaker 3: what the standard was. So that made it, in my mind,

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Speaker 3: was if you really wanted to be there, you do

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Speaker 3: whatever you need to do to pass that test to

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Speaker 3: get on. And that brought the team a lot closer

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Speaker 3: because we just had people that wanted to be there,

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Speaker 3: and it made it a lot easier than too to

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Speaker 3: work as one rather than having some people just there

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Speaker 3: for the sake of being there, and other people are

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Speaker 3: passionate about being a lifeguard, but then they've been brought

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Speaker 3: down by other people who just didn't really give a stuff,

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Speaker 3: and so.

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Speaker 2: It would have been the opposite, right the moment you

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Speaker 2: go from seasonal to full time. Oh, I love that, mate,

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Speaker 2: I love that because normally when that happens, and that

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Speaker 2: you know, people who in demand they lower the standards,

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Speaker 2: and then the standards dropped just to fill those places

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Speaker 2: because all of a sudden you've gone from that seasonal

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Speaker 2: change to the full time change. That's really interesting to

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Speaker 2: know and were you part of that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so it it was me that suggested to get

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Speaker 3: that way. So and when he did it that way

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Speaker 3: to get the people that want to be there. So

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Speaker 3: people would drop off because they just asked, I can't

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Speaker 3: do it whatever, and then they drop off, but we

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Speaker 3: got the core group with people that you know. For

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Speaker 3: an example, one guy complained that I'm not going to

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Speaker 3: lose so many guys and a lot of people are

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Speaker 3: winging about it, and so this guy, so we had

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Speaker 3: we dropped it to thirteen minutes for the for the

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Speaker 3: in the pool, swim eight hundred meters under thirteen minutes,

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Speaker 3: and then we did the ocean test after we finished

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Speaker 3: the pool. But using the pool as an example, he

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Speaker 3: would swim say third minutes thirty when it used to

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Speaker 3: be fourteen minutes. So he's going, well, I'm going to

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Speaker 3: file because it's now thirteen minutes. And I said, no,

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Speaker 3: if you really want to be here, you'll do whatever work,

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Speaker 3: whatever you need to do to get under thirteen, he said, oh,

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Speaker 3: I'm getting older and older. So at that stage he

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Speaker 3: was probably about forty two. So by the time he

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Speaker 3: gave it away and finished, he was probably in his

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Speaker 3: early fifties. And he's early so ten years later he's

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Speaker 3: swimming twelve thirty, but ten years younger he was swimming

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Speaker 3: thirteen thirty.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, amazing.

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Speaker 3: So because he wanted to be there, he did what

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Speaker 3: he had to do to be able to do the time.

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Speaker 2: So that just he've got the standards there then, right,

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Speaker 2: you know, and again like people that want to be there,

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Speaker 2: people that want to better themselves, people that want to

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Speaker 2: you know, be at their optiments in order to save lives.

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Speaker 2: And when you want to when you go, you got

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Speaker 2: to go right. You know your job, she knows her job.

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Speaker 2: He knows his job. Les, let's move together so you

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Speaker 2: can focus on your on the job at hand. So

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Speaker 2: did it become sort of a career profession I suppose

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Speaker 2: where before it was like, do you know what, this

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Speaker 2: is just seasonal? Now it is more of a career, right,

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Speaker 2: you look at it as more more of a career

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Speaker 2: because it's full time.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was always known when I first started, and

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Speaker 3: then the nine is always known as a job you

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Speaker 3: did before you went and got a real job. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: and then and then, as you say, it went permanent

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Speaker 3: and that made it. You know, once jobs go permanent,

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Speaker 3: they have to become more professional and that's something that

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Speaker 3: everyone wanted that and enjoyed that stage on how it changed,

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Speaker 3: and it was really good because you know. The other

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Speaker 3: thing too, though, is you're getting people on when you

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Speaker 3: do a rescue. You times, I wouldn't put myself in

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Speaker 3: that position just going out in the water if it's

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Speaker 3: on a certain day, but I've got to put myself

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Speaker 3: in that position to get that person out of that

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Speaker 3: critical situation. So you're putting yourself in that's right, You're

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Speaker 3: going against your instinction training and that's right and putting

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Speaker 3: yourself into that position. And it can be quite daunting

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Speaker 3: and frightening at times where you know, and whenever someone

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Speaker 3: gets into trouble, they always put themselves somehow into the

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Speaker 3: worst possible position they could ever get in.

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Speaker 4: And then you've got going and get them out.

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Speaker 2: Because they don't know they're doing exactly like me. I'm

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Speaker 2: doing the exact gob what I'm supposed to do, you know,

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Speaker 2: And what was the pressure like because at such a

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Speaker 2: young age, you're this you know young. Yeah, you've got

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Speaker 2: five six years under your belt, but in the grand

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Speaker 2: scheme of things, that's nothing.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean it was tough at times, you know, because

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Speaker 3: you were the younger one and you're trying to call

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Speaker 3: the shots and you had to earn that respect.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, because there's still a lot of older guys there.

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Speaker 3: They've been there a lot longer than I had, and

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Speaker 3: you just had to earn that respect. And it was

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Speaker 3: funny though with I never realized till I got older,

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Speaker 3: that with the leadership leading teams, because when I was younger,

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Speaker 3: I was always get and I was very quiet, hardly

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Speaker 3: said a word, you know when I was younger, and

303
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Speaker 3: but always end up the captain of the cricket team

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Speaker 3: or captain of the football team. And I always and

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Speaker 3: I said to a coach once, I said, why would

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Speaker 3: you put me? And I hardly say a word and

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Speaker 3: he goes, no, But everyone respects you because what happens

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Speaker 3: is when you do say something, everyone listens.

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Speaker 4: And I said, okay.

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Speaker 3: And then I've realized that now later going through the

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Speaker 3: career I've gone through that you've got to earn the

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Speaker 3: respect and you've got to be able to do the job.

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Speaker 3: But then you don't want to be saying too much

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Speaker 3: all the time. It's when you do say something, then

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Speaker 3: people listen, and that's how you get the team working

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Speaker 3: really well when they are in that mindset.

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Speaker 2: And what are you looking for apart from the you know,

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Speaker 2: the benchmark sort of criteria tests what you're looking for

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Speaker 2: in a team member.

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Speaker 3: Well, you're looking for one they've got to have the

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Speaker 3: skill level you know, to come in. But that's not

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Speaker 3: the end game. You know, it's a lot of learning

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Speaker 3: when you come into the knowing when to beat a

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Speaker 3: certain spot. And you know, we have a lot of

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Speaker 3: banner in the tower. I mean, you could turn up

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Speaker 3: in looking the best you've ever looked and still get

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Speaker 3: ripped apart in the bag and whatever. So that's a

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Speaker 3: that's a good part with it. And so you need

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Speaker 3: to have that and be able to cop a bit

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Speaker 3: of banner as well as well as given you don't

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Speaker 3: you don't want to be someone that just gets all

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Speaker 3: upset and about getting paid out and accept it.

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Speaker 2: The way of bringing people in, isn't it, and in

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00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,880
Speaker 2: a way making them feel comfortab in a bizarre type

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Speaker 2: of way.

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Speaker 3: And then the other thing too is the observation and

337
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,400
Speaker 3: been able to stand out in the sun and the

338
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,040
Speaker 3: heat and keep the concentration. People don't realize they see

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Speaker 3: us this watching, but that don't realize that what the

340
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,160
Speaker 3: stress on that And in the back of your mind,

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00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,160
Speaker 3: if you come in have a bad day and make

342
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Speaker 3: a mistake, it could cost someone their life. Whereas if

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Speaker 3: you're in the office and make a mistake, just fix

344
00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,800
Speaker 3: it up later and you might lose a bit of

345
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Speaker 3: money or something in the company, but you.

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Speaker 4: Can fix that up.

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Speaker 2: Have you ever had a bad day?

348
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean we've had bad days.

349
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Speaker 3: And we get a lot of we cover the gap,

350
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Speaker 3: so that's where a lot of suicides happen up the gap,

351
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Speaker 3: the gap up at south Head there in the eastern suburbs,

352
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Speaker 3: and so we get a lot of the body.

353
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Speaker 4: Retrievals, and.

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Speaker 2: That's your area of operations.

355
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Speaker 4: So we go up on the jet scheme and people

356
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Speaker 4: don't realize that.

357
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Speaker 3: They don't realize so because the police boat come, it's

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Speaker 3: about a half an hour for them to come around

359
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Speaker 3: the time they get around, so we try and get

360
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Speaker 3: there to secure the body before they lose it all together.

361
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Speaker 3: And so we deal with that and then have to

362
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Speaker 3: hang onto the body. But now we've got to stay

363
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,000
Speaker 3: out in the water till the police boat comes around.

364
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,280
Speaker 3: And that affects a lot of the guys too sometimes

365
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Speaker 3: and the girls.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, no, it's I mean early days.

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Speaker 3: And then I've just accepted that's a part of the

368
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,520
Speaker 3: job and we've got to train people into that that

369
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:22,520
Speaker 3: the longer you're going to be a lifeguard, you either

370
00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,920
Speaker 3: get a resuscitation, you'll get a drowning, you'll get a suicide,

371
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,280
Speaker 3: you'll get you know, even today when I was coming

372
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,120
Speaker 3: in here, we had a guy a massive drug overdase

373
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Speaker 3: that we're dealing with on the beach. So there's a

374
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,920
Speaker 3: whole range of things that we're dealing with that you know,

375
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Speaker 3: it can be quite horrific at times, and that's why

376
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Speaker 3: we brought in We always trained physically and we're always

377
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Speaker 3: physically fit, but we never ever trained mentally.

378
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Speaker 4: So we brought in a guy about.

379
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Speaker 3: Five six years ago, doctor David said, and he's been

380
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,440
Speaker 3: working a lot with us, and to the point where

381
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Speaker 3: now everyone will if they've got an issue, they'll come

382
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,400
Speaker 3: and tell you, whereas back in my day it was

383
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,119
Speaker 3: like if I said I had an issue with.

384
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Speaker 4: Pulling the body in.

385
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Speaker 2: It'd be like a tough en app to get on

386
00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,159
Speaker 2: with it, you know, just you wouldn't even there and.

387
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,480
Speaker 3: You wouldn't even say it because you're petrified that they

388
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,160
Speaker 3: think you're weak or.

389
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Speaker 4: Something and they get rid of it.

390
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,879
Speaker 3: Yeah, and now we've sort of turn that around though,

391
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,119
Speaker 3: where because we could do a massive incident and it

392
00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,520
Speaker 3: might be saying one o'clock in the day, that incident's gone.

393
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:26,960
Speaker 3: You know, the police, the ambulance whatever, take them away.

394
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,679
Speaker 3: You roll straight back out and keep working.

395
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,320
Speaker 2: You're still in that environment, still in the same environment.

396
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,359
Speaker 2: Not that you can escape it. It's happened. It's happened there,

397
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:37,960
Speaker 2: that's right. And then so we just then continue on.

398
00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,240
Speaker 3: So now it's like the guys, look, I just need

399
00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,399
Speaker 3: to now break or something, or maybe I need to

400
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,200
Speaker 3: go home or next day they'll ring up and so

401
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:46,720
Speaker 3: I need a bit of time off or and we go, okay,

402
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,280
Speaker 3: well that's fine, that's you know, and they're now saying

403
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,919
Speaker 3: that and coming forward. And so we've broken that stigma

404
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,640
Speaker 3: of you know, the typical bloke tough and it's been

405
00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,280
Speaker 3: good that way to try.

406
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,399
Speaker 2: And change just just that you know, also being a

407
00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,560
Speaker 2: good team member is recognizing that as well. You know,

408
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,440
Speaker 2: sometimes you don't need to ask, you know, you shouldn't

409
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,760
Speaker 2: need to ask if you were part of a team

410
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 2: like that. You know, someone should recognize it. Go, hey, yeah,

411
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,040
Speaker 2: you've just asked someone asking if you're okay. Have you

412
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,639
Speaker 2: ever had a stand out? It's called a standout rescue?

413
00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,880
Speaker 2: That's that's affected you. You know, that's really sort of yeah,

414
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:22,760
Speaker 2: you've taken home.

415
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,640
Speaker 3: There's probably a couple of things. My first ever body retrieval,

416
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,399
Speaker 3: the body had been there a while, and it was

417
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,040
Speaker 3: in the nineties when you know, we just went out

418
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:31,520
Speaker 3: and grabbed them and came back in and on the

419
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,320
Speaker 3: guys said, I just grabbed the arm, grabbed the arm

420
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,000
Speaker 3: and it had been the water for a fair while,

421
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,800
Speaker 3: and the arms is like, come off the socker of

422
00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,919
Speaker 3: the shoulder. So I'm hanging on the I'm making onto

423
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:42,960
Speaker 3: the arm, going what am I doing now?

424
00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:44,920
Speaker 2: Your joke? So the arm came off, came off.

425
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,160
Speaker 4: It came off because there'd been the water for probably

426
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,479
Speaker 4: a week or more. I'm just going, what am going

427
00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:49,720
Speaker 4: to do?

428
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,840
Speaker 3: I was probably early twenties, early twenties at that stage,

429
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,440
Speaker 3: so that was like a obviously, and I have back then,

430
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,320
Speaker 3: and that's the same. You come back in and they go, well.

431
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:02,760
Speaker 3: I was just sort of dealing with it, and obviously

432
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 3: in those days you don't say anything if it is

433
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,119
Speaker 3: affecting you. And then it was like I would just

434
00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,760
Speaker 3: all you just go gave a beer after work, Just

435
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,400
Speaker 3: have a beer, and turn up to work next day,

436
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,480
Speaker 3: and it's like it's never happened, and then you continue on.

437
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,840
Speaker 3: So those sort of things were probably tough in those days.

438
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,840
Speaker 3: There's a rescue I did a fair few years ago

439
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,720
Speaker 3: that I thought I'm going to have to let the

440
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,040
Speaker 3: person go to save myself. It was that critical. So

441
00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:29,480
Speaker 3: I went into as a normal standard rescue. And when

442
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,800
Speaker 3: I got to the guy, he was probably probably mid

443
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,320
Speaker 3: forties and he was really struggling, and I got to him.

444
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,200
Speaker 4: We hung on. I just couldn't get out, just kept.

445
00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:41,520
Speaker 3: Getting hit by wave after wave after wave, and got

446
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:46,040
Speaker 3: stuck there just behind the icebergs, and with him with him,

447
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 3: and we're there and I'm trying to battle to get

448
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 3: I couldn't go out because the waves kept breaking. I

449
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,199
Speaker 3: couldn't get He was just hanging on, trying to breathe.

450
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,000
Speaker 3: He's thinking he's going to die. I'm trying to calm

451
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 3: him down as much as I could. But then I

452
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,280
Speaker 3: got to the point where going kept rolling, the board

453
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:04,879
Speaker 3: kept rolling, kept rolling. I just couldn't get out of

454
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,280
Speaker 3: that position. And I thought Jesus, then, only time out

455
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,840
Speaker 3: of thirty two years as a professional lifeguard, I thought

456
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,879
Speaker 3: I might have to I think I'm going to get

457
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,719
Speaker 3: out of this spot. I might have to let him

458
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:16,600
Speaker 3: go to get because I'm starting a fatigue as well.

459
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:17,280
Speaker 4: I'm getting tired.

460
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,239
Speaker 3: We've been there for a while, and you know, you're

461
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,680
Speaker 3: getting hit, hold in your breath, going under, getting hit again,

462
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,400
Speaker 3: hit again. It's like getting ragged old and constantly, over

463
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:26,040
Speaker 3: and over and over.

464
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,600
Speaker 4: And I thought, anyway.

465
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,439
Speaker 3: Well, I kept battling with it, and I eventually we

466
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 3: got there and got him back in.

467
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,040
Speaker 2: And but there was a moment that you thought, I'm

468
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 2: going to have to push it.

469
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,359
Speaker 3: I thought I'd have to let him go to save

470
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 3: myself and bring myself and he would have drowned one

471
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 3: hundred percent.

472
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,280
Speaker 4: Wouldn't have that was that would have been the end

473
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:45,919
Speaker 4: of his life.

474
00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 2: What was different? What was Was it just a different

475
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 2: movement or just you just got it right?

476
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,560
Speaker 4: Well, how do you know, it was just a matter.

477
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,480
Speaker 3: I think that we just got that little bit of

478
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,119
Speaker 3: a lullin in waves and it just gave us that

479
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,479
Speaker 3: little bit of time time to get a little bit

480
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 3: further across, and then I could get washed in with

481
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:07,240
Speaker 3: the waves that just couldn't get out of this. We're

482
00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 3: just we'd go one way the wave had hit and

483
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,880
Speaker 3: pull us back into that position again. Then I'd make

484
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,600
Speaker 3: it a bit further and then another wave had come

485
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,639
Speaker 3: and then we'd have to roll and just pull us

486
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,399
Speaker 3: back into the same position again. It was just like

487
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 3: back and forward, back and forward, until finally we just

488
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,680
Speaker 3: got past that point where we could actually I could

489
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,800
Speaker 3: wash in and not get caught in that position. But

490
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 3: when I came to the beach, which I didn't know,

491
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 3: he had his nine year old son there waiting on

492
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 3: the beach, And then that hit me because I thought, geez, imagine,

493
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,639
Speaker 3: but to let his father go, I've come in.

494
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:40,840
Speaker 4: They had to face him a.

495
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:47,159
Speaker 3: Nine year old Goo, where's my dad?

496
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:56,360
Speaker 2: Did that sense of Wow, I need to let him

497
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 2: go to I've bought him back to you. Yeah, I've

498
00:21:59,280 --> 00:21:59,919
Speaker 2: bought him back to you.

499
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the reward, you know, you've achieved something that

500
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,919
Speaker 3: was quite difficult and out of your control. Like I

501
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,479
Speaker 3: said before, I'm putting myself in positions that I wouldn't

502
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,879
Speaker 3: just go and do myself. You know, it's like yourself

503
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,000
Speaker 3: in going out to war or whatever. You're not you

504
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,200
Speaker 3: put yourself in positions you never ever put yourself in,

505
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,600
Speaker 3: and it's something that you know. I don't think people

506
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,120
Speaker 3: realize that side of life being a lifeguard. And as

507
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 3: you said, that's where we need to prepare people when

508
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 3: they're coming on. As you said before, how do you

509
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,359
Speaker 3: get them ready? Well, that's the stage where they need

510
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:34,960
Speaker 3: to be ready.

511
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,879
Speaker 2: For anyone more inexperienced. You've lost two people there.

512
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,080
Speaker 4: That's right, and that's why we dropped that had the

513
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 4: test harder.

514
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,640
Speaker 3: We had everything a bit hard because we're putting ourselves

515
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,640
Speaker 3: that you don't want to put someone in. Employ them,

516
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,159
Speaker 3: put them out in that position and something happens to

517
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 3: them or they die. But we're not invincible, like the

518
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 3: ocean's way more powerful than it doesn't matter how good

519
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 3: you are, and I think people forget that. Even though

520
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 3: we do our job and do it very well, people

521
00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 3: just think, well, nothing ever happened to us.

522
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, our personal safety on you know, on the lifeguards. Yeah,

523
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 2: we go out there and do it there. If we

524
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 2: get in trouble, they save us.

525
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know we've got a good I've seen

526
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,159
Speaker 3: it when I've go I go places, and I've got

527
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 3: a pretty good record with resuscitations over the years. And

528
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 3: people think hop backs, ye swept. So if someone drops

529
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 3: dead and it's just a matter of olders revive.

530
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 2: Them, and we're talking about how many how many.

531
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,119
Speaker 3: I've probably done, do you'z have a three two years

532
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 3: like proper ones will be up around the forty probably

533
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 3: forty to forty to fifty proper like dead, Yeah, dead

534
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 3: and funny and bring them back. Early days nineties you

535
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,920
Speaker 3: didn't have as much of a success rate. But since

536
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,440
Speaker 3: the defibrillators came in, that's so much better.

537
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,640
Speaker 2: They don't even realize what you know that goes on

538
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 2: once you scrape away the surface. Talk about psychological resilience,

539
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 2: physical resilience, emotional resilience. Which is another one that we

540
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 2: touch on, is there's so much that goes on behind

541
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 2: the scenes.

542
00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 4: Way more than people think. The shows.

543
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 3: Great shows, the good fun side of it. But then,

544
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,439
Speaker 3: like you said, we will joke around and banter with

545
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,880
Speaker 3: each other and play jokes on each other, and which

546
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,200
Speaker 3: is just great and that keeps the sanity I think.

547
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 2: So how did the show come along? Did you just

548
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:28,280
Speaker 2: were sitting there and the producers come up and go, hey, guys,

549
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:29,639
Speaker 2: we want to film. How did that happen?

550
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,040
Speaker 4: It's a funny story because.

551
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 3: Ben Davies, who's the creator of it, he was working

552
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 3: in TV as producer and get Away and a few

553
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:40,719
Speaker 3: other different types of shows that were going on at

554
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 3: the time. This is back in two thousand and four,

555
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 3: and then he came on. He said, look, there's not

556
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 3: much doing in the TV world over the summer.

557
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 4: I might just come on.

558
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 3: He is a local guy, come on and be a lifeguard,

559
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:53,919
Speaker 3: just a casual list.

560
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, we'll try out. And so he tried out.

561
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 3: We put him on after the Summery goes, I've been

562
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 3: born and here, he said. I had no idea what

563
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,879
Speaker 3: I thought. I knew what lifeguards did, he said, now

564
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 3: I'm working here. I'd had no idea they had any

565
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 3: resuscitation rescues. Like I was saying that the body retrievers

566
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 3: all the other stuff that you don't really know or

567
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 3: hear about.

568
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:16,439
Speaker 4: And people lie on the beach and they're in their

569
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:17,000
Speaker 4: own world.

570
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 3: And if they said I didn't send any rescues today,

571
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 3: we could have been doing rescues in and and out.

572
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,160
Speaker 3: But they're on the beach, reading a book or talking

573
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:23,479
Speaker 3: or run whatever they're doing.

574
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 4: Don't care.

575
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,440
Speaker 3: So after that that, Ben said, oh, he came to

576
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 3: me said, look, I think there's a TV showing what

577
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 3: goes on here. And I said, well, how the hell

578
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 3: would I know. I wouldn't have a clue. I just thought,

579
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,159
Speaker 3: I think he's just talking. He said, give me a bit,

580
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,359
Speaker 3: I'll go away, have a look and see if we

581
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 3: can pick up a production company or just sound some

582
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,399
Speaker 3: production companies out and see what they think. Because this

583
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,360
Speaker 3: type of show, it was sort of before the reality,

584
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:49,720
Speaker 3: you know, two thousand and five, two thousand and six,

585
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 3: and it was we're sort of a documentary slash reality.

586
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:54,639
Speaker 4: It's a bit of both.

587
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 3: And then he came back and said, look, I think

588
00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 3: there's a I've got a production companies need to do

589
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:03,280
Speaker 3: a pilot, and we do a pilot and then picture

590
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 3: to all the different networks. The problem we had is,

591
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 3: of course we're employeed by the council, was we had

592
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:09,640
Speaker 3: to get permission from the Council to be filmed while

593
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,880
Speaker 3: at work, and I thought, there's no way that they're

594
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 3: going to be allowed that. And I went and saw them,

595
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,680
Speaker 3: had the whole pitch to them and they said, yeah,

596
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 3: they agreed to it. We got the production company, we

597
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,679
Speaker 3: did the pilot, and we went off to the networks. Anyway,

598
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,200
Speaker 3: we've got the Channel ten were interested, but they were

599
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,640
Speaker 3: worried that, well, what if there's no rescues, what if

600
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,679
Speaker 3: nothing happens. But I'm going, well, I know you're going

601
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 3: to there's plenty of footage, and they go, so we're

602
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 3: trying to come in.

603
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 4: They're going, no, I don't know, I don't know, you're

604
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 4: the TV. So then they said, we're doing our special.

605
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 4: That's all we're going to do in our special.

606
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 2: And that's it off our special.

607
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,360
Speaker 4: That was it anyway, So we started filming.

608
00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,359
Speaker 3: They come in about mid December, go through to about

609
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 3: mid March, seven days a week, and then got all

610
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 3: the footage. As we're gone, we got a resuscitation which

611
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 3: I was involved with as well, and from start we're

612
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 3: running into it to the finish where then we were

613
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,639
Speaker 3: able to get into the ambulance and go to the

614
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 3: hospital and follow the whole story right through to the end,

615
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 3: and that had never been captured anywhere in the world

616
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,480
Speaker 3: because most of time camera's coming up, it's half done,

617
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,919
Speaker 3: it's we've done it. Whatever that has happened to be

618
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 3: there the whole time. Now, that footage then got taken

619
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 3: all around the world for training for resuscitation, real life footage.

620
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 3: Now that went back to the executives, plus all the

621
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,359
Speaker 3: gory stuff where the board riding injuries and this cuts

622
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 3: to the head, and all the other things spinal injuries

623
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 3: and rescues, and then all the fun stuff that happens

624
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 3: down there as well, and they said, we've got that

625
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,600
Speaker 3: much foot of the executive we have to make this

626
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,400
Speaker 3: a series. It can't be now anymore saying we got

627
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,439
Speaker 3: all this footage that was so good that they said, we're.

628
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 4: Going to have to make it a series.

629
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 2: And you knew that anyway. You know, listen, I've lived

630
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 2: and breathed these reaches, you listen, trust me.

631
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:07,160
Speaker 4: Tenty plenty of footage.

632
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 3: And then so they did the first season, came back

633
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,439
Speaker 3: to the second season, and then it just content was

634
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 3: just easy content because it's always there, and off it went.

635
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 3: It is born, and that went wellwide it's it's been

636
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 3: played in nearly every country around the world. Yeah, since then,

637
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 3: and we've done eighteen seasons now, so wow.

638
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,639
Speaker 2: What was the dynamics of when they came on board

639
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:34,879
Speaker 2: and even to now? Does it affect or distract your work?

640
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,640
Speaker 2: Has it? Have you found it to be you know,

641
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 2: something that obviously is beneficial because it highlights the importance

642
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 2: of your job and the importance of respecting the sea,

643
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera, But also on the flip side,

644
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 2: has it has there been any sort of moments where

645
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 2: you thought, do you know what? This is becoming too

646
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,040
Speaker 2: much of a distraction. People are getting into the job

647
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 2: now because of you know, ulterior motive. They want to

648
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 2: be celebrities. Their heads aren't in it the camera, They're

649
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 2: not really focusing on that. They're focusing on the camera.

650
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 3: You know.

651
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 2: You know what I mean by those distractions. As time

652
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 2: has gone by, did that ever happen as lifeguards?

653
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd say at times when it first started. The

654
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 3: core group had been working for many years as a

655
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 3: lifeguard before the TV came along, So it's just a progression.

656
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 3: But ones that did come on maybe you know, eight

657
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 3: years time, ten years after the show I had been going,

658
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 3: would have had the same sort of thing of they're

659
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,080
Speaker 3: coming on thinking they're going to be a you know,

660
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 3: a celebrit because obviously it happens updoors, it happens up

661
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 3: course for endorsement or whatever else. You know, when you

662
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 3: get a profile so people can see that, and then but.

663
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 2: That comes, when that comes before the job, then then

664
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,760
Speaker 2: you're again those standards are slipping the you know, the

665
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,239
Speaker 2: job is at risk, you know people at risk. You know,

666
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,360
Speaker 2: you're actually not gone from saving lives to putting lives

667
00:29:58,360 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 2: in danger, right.

668
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, And good thing is we kept the standard so

669
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 3: hard that did eliminate a lot of those people that

670
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,600
Speaker 3: wanted to be just the celebrity because they just didn't

671
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 3: have the physical or the ability in the ocean to

672
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,000
Speaker 3: get the job in the first place. So it's still

673
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 3: a job we had to apply for through council, had

674
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 3: to go through the whole process and structure to get

675
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:20,360
Speaker 3: the job.

676
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 4: So it wasn't just a walk up start.

677
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,720
Speaker 3: So it made it probably you know, people were trying

678
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 3: but just didn't get on. And I think we've got

679
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 3: a good group though too over the years that if

680
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 3: you've got a bit of a big head or something

681
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 3: you got cut down pretty quick, it didn't, or you

682
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:35,960
Speaker 3: got shoved out pretty quick.

683
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 4: Yeah, so that side of it was pretty good.

684
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,720
Speaker 3: Really we could handle it, even though it didn't you know,

685
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,760
Speaker 3: and I felt I suppose you know, when you get

686
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 3: in those situations, a lot of the jealousy. You can

687
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 3: really see the jealousy come into different people, which you

688
00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 3: didn't expect from some people.

689
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 2: And when you first started off, whether people following you around,

690
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 2: how much does it progressed because you're in work mode right,

691
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 2: so it's like you keep up, you get the footage.

692
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 2: If you don't, then you don't. It was it very

693
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 2: much like that from the off.

694
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, they missed a lot of stuff and the original

695
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,040
Speaker 3: early days obviously because now there's a lot of go pros,

696
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 3: but prior to that, it was two camera crews on

697
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 3: the beach, a cameraman on the in the tower all.

698
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,360
Speaker 4: The time, and they were running.

699
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 3: You could see the juggling up and down with the

700
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 3: camera trying to run to get because we did go

701
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 3: and do what we need to do and it was

702
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 3: up to them to get the shots.

703
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 4: And it was just yeah, really really funny.

704
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 3: I remember the they used to have it because they

705
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 3: didn't know how to shoot it when they first started

706
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 3: in the first season because it never been done before,

707
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 3: and it was just a massive beach with how are

708
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,479
Speaker 3: we going to capture all this footage? And they had

709
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 3: a girl listening to the dialogue in the in the

710
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 3: underneath the tower, and I remember, after a couple of weeks,

711
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,160
Speaker 3: so how's it all going, I'm thinking, she goes, well,

712
00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 3: she said, it's been very educational, and I'm thinking, I

713
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 3: can imagine what the guys saying and talking. She's listening

714
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 3: every single thing that's going through fair enough. And then

715
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,840
Speaker 3: I remember, so we used we wear the the arm

716
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 3: bands with the mics and we go on the water

717
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 3: and it goes in there. And so they wrapped the

718
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 3: mic and a condom and then put it in the

719
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,840
Speaker 3: thing that wraps onto our thing he goes in, so

720
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 3: it's all waterproof. And I remember one of the poor

721
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 3: girls they got it to go out of the things,

722
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 3: she had to buy bags and bags of condoms and

723
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 3: she come back that embarrassed, thinking I don't know what

724
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,480
Speaker 3: they thoughts and packs.

725
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 2: You imagine going into the shop. But the spend of

726
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 2: shame is like the purchase of shame.

727
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 4: A lot of trial and error back in the early days.

728
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 3: But obviously as as we progress, we had the water cameraman.

729
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 3: He used to have to you know, we'd say, it

730
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 3: looks like it looks people could be getting in trouble here.

731
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 3: So he'd off he go his flippers and he's water

732
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 3: cameraman and off he goes into the water. And you know,

733
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 3: but then obviously once the go pros came in, they're

734
00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 3: all set now on the boards, they're set on the

735
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 3: jet ski, the bikes, the cameras just going with interference.

736
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 3: The interference is not much at all. And to be

737
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 3: honest though, even after the first season, you do forget

738
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 3: the cameras are there because you get in that mindset

739
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,800
Speaker 3: of what you're doing that and it's not because it's

740
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 3: not scripted.

741
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,479
Speaker 4: Or anything like that. You forget. You just go and

742
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 4: do it.

743
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 3: You go and you come back and your job yet

744
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,640
Speaker 3: and then you're talking yeah, then they'll give you you

745
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 3: run through the rescue after you've come back out, and

746
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 3: then because you're in that adrenaline and when you hear

747
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,120
Speaker 3: back later on or they put it on there, you go,

748
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 3: so do I really say that?

749
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 4: Because you forget what you actually say away.

750
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 2: Brief like you would to anything, right, you're given a debrief.

751
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 2: They're recording that and it's real and worn, authentic. What's

752
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 2: the most dangerous part of the ocean that most people

753
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 2: get caught out on? What's this something to look for

754
00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 2: that you would never know if I was to go

755
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 2: onto a beach in Australia in general.

756
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 3: Well, I think the main thing is that the rips

757
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:58,040
Speaker 3: that because people don't.

758
00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 2: Understand what is a rip?

759
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 4: I mean a rip.

760
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 3: It's just so waves come in and break on the

761
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 3: sandbank and then all the war that comes in needs

762
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 3: to go back out again from the shore. So it's

763
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,399
Speaker 3: just like in, it comes in and it goes back out,

764
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 3: so it's got to find like a channel to go

765
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,360
Speaker 3: back out, and all it is is a flow of

766
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 3: water moves around. That's why I'm doing the float to

767
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 3: survive now. And it's basically if you float in a rip,

768
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,320
Speaker 3: you'll float across and end up on a sand bank

769
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 3: or where the waves are breaking, which will push you

770
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 3: back in without trying to swim. Because the mistake a

771
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 3: lot of people make is their way step. They think

772
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,080
Speaker 3: they're fine, they go to that area because the waves

773
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 3: aren't breaking off their feet. Yeah, and especially Europe when

774
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,640
Speaker 3: the Europeans when they come here, they're used to the

775
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,239
Speaker 3: flat so it looks more flat water, not no way,

776
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,960
Speaker 3: so I go, but that's where the water is moving

777
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 3: and pulling away from the beach until they get to

778
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,440
Speaker 3: that way. Step two more steps, three more steps, and

779
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,799
Speaker 3: then sudden they can't stand and they turn around and

780
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 3: try and swim as fast as they can back to

781
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 3: where they were because they think that was the safe spot,

782
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,919
Speaker 3: and obviously just exhaust themselves, get tired, keep going out,

783
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,120
Speaker 3: and then start swallowing water and drown, and that's when

784
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,880
Speaker 3: we go on rescue. But now we found if we

785
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 3: tell them to stop doing it, stop swimming and his

786
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 3: float and if they listen, they start then moving with

787
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 3: the rip and we say that's it. Go with the

788
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 3: flow of the water, keep going, keep going. And then

789
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,840
Speaker 3: we say stand up, because we know they're on the sandbank.

790
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:20,359
Speaker 4: Stand up.

791
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 3: They stand up, walk in. So we've reduced our rescues

792
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 3: now by doing that by fifty percent.

793
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,320
Speaker 4: And there's times.

794
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 3: Where as I said earlier, used the ocean to advantage,

795
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,880
Speaker 3: and I've had times where guys have been doing rescues

796
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:33,359
Speaker 3: down the beach and I'll be the only one there,

797
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,879
Speaker 3: and I might. I think there's one episode years ago

798
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 3: that I had nine or ten people and I had

799
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 3: them all drowning in the rip. So I've just got

800
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 3: them all to hang on to the board, and I

801
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:45,799
Speaker 3: knew we were going to drift across the sand bank.

802
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 3: And then we're just drifting across. And then we got

803
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:50,000
Speaker 3: to the sandbank. I say, okay, one now to stand

804
00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,200
Speaker 3: up and walk in. And they all walked in. And

805
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,120
Speaker 3: I said, when I got back to the beach, I said, look,

806
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 3: you don't need me. You all just had to do that.

807
00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 3: You don't need me there. It's just I was there

808
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:03,640
Speaker 3: drifting with you guys. So that made me realize that

809
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,319
Speaker 3: if everybody floated in the in the ocean, if you're

810
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 3: flooded in a river, lake, damn back.

811
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 2: People that say that they can't float, what do you mean?

812
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,440
Speaker 2: Just like even if you like treading water, but just

813
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 2: in a not in a you're not fighting against anything,

814
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 2: You're just staying a float.

815
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,759
Speaker 3: So we're talking about it's not the starfish floating is

816
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 3: the starfish in your back exactly? We call it active

817
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 3: floating like treading waters. You're moving your arms sculling, sort.

818
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 2: Of move your legs against anything, letting it take.

819
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 4: That's right, you're not using your energy.

820
00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:38,200
Speaker 3: You're breathing normal, and if you breathe normally, you're not

821
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 3: then panicking. Once you panic, you breed heavy, you breathe heavy,

822
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 3: you're losing all your oction because we've got about four

823
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 3: leaders of oxyen the lung so lungs and it's a

824
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,640
Speaker 3: natural flotation of buoyancy. So once you lose all that, well,

825
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 3: then you're you know, you're going to find it hard

826
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,399
Speaker 3: to stay a flight. So let's just trying to change

827
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 3: that mentality now and get people, which we've been doing

828
00:36:58,920 --> 00:36:59,919
Speaker 3: for probably five six years.

829
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,040
Speaker 2: It's just starting down, isn't it could actually swallow the

830
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,480
Speaker 2: water they start to panic, all the all the has

831
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,959
Speaker 2: gone from their lungs and then swallowing the water.

832
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:08,560
Speaker 4: You can't.

833
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,520
Speaker 3: I mean, if you if you stay afloat in your

834
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 3: mouth above water, you don't you can never ever drown.

835
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 4: If you're not spoiling water, you don't drown. And then

836
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,160
Speaker 4: and also the more you do that, you.

837
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 2: Do it mate. That's you know, if you keep your

838
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 2: head above the water and you don't you know, you

839
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 2: don't swallow water. You're not going to drown.

840
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:27,880
Speaker 3: Drown, not at all. And people have done it for

841
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:30,680
Speaker 3: a long long time. But they can float or just

842
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,719
Speaker 3: go for ages. And and the longer you can float,

843
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:35,400
Speaker 3: the more chance you got someone to come and rescue

844
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 3: as well.

845
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 2: Whereas yeah, you're binding yourself time, aren't you.

846
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:38,839
Speaker 4: That's right.

847
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,480
Speaker 3: Whereas people just just we caught the karate chop. It's

848
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,919
Speaker 3: just they're chopping away like this and all they're doing

849
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,839
Speaker 3: is just doing that to keep the head above water.

850
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 3: But how long can you keep doing that for? And

851
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,839
Speaker 3: it's like punching a bag? How long can you keep

852
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:53,280
Speaker 3: in a minute? You're done.

853
00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 4: That's all you can do.

854
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 2: And how do you deal with shark attacks? And you

855
00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:58,879
Speaker 2: know sharks that are present.

856
00:37:58,600 --> 00:37:59,439
Speaker 4: Well, we've been lucky.

857
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:01,319
Speaker 3: I mean they years were probably only had one guy

858
00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 3: lost his hand from a shark. So that was about

859
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 3: ten fifteen years ago at BONDOI present. No, it was

860
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,759
Speaker 3: just we just finished at seven o'clock and then it

861
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,879
Speaker 3: was just going on to dusk and he was out

862
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 3: surfing later and went across there's a bake ball of

863
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,439
Speaker 3: fish and he's just happened to paddle through the bait

864
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 3: ball and as his hand's gone in just grabbed his hand,

865
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,080
Speaker 3: so that that's about the only thing. But I mean,

866
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 3: you often see the sharks and I do a lot

867
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 3: of down when ocean ski paling. We go like a

868
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 3: start point about twenty kilometers down the coast, whichever it

869
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,479
Speaker 3: with the wind and all that. And I've had times

870
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,799
Speaker 3: where I've one where I've just run straight into one,

871
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:40,600
Speaker 3: but it was coming across and I've just hit straight

872
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 3: into it. And you often see him you're cruising around,

873
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,240
Speaker 3: but none have really come up to sort of worry

874
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 3: me at all.

875
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:49,760
Speaker 2: But how about on the beach when people because people

876
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,080
Speaker 2: are petro do you just see him run it in

877
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,520
Speaker 2: a panicking and helps You've got to calm him all

878
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:59,120
Speaker 2: down and go, you know, yeh, there's other cases. As

879
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,080
Speaker 2: soon as there's a shark siting, is it like everyone up.

880
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, we try to identify the shark as well to

881
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 3: see what you know, because there's only really the three

882
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:08,839
Speaker 3: that are dangerous to the other's life. It's a great

883
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,359
Speaker 3: nurse or things like that. They're not going to they

884
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,080
Speaker 3: never attack, or a ham ahead they don't really there's

885
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,480
Speaker 3: no known attacks from certain sharks. It's really just the

886
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 3: bull shark the tiger shark and the great white, so

887
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 3: you know, if we can establish which one it is,

888
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:26,879
Speaker 3: which is sometimes quite hard because you're getting it from

889
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 3: a surfer or someone else. So we have to coordinate

890
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,439
Speaker 3: it quite well because on a busy day we could

891
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,480
Speaker 3: have thirty thousand people there, so there's be a whole

892
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 3: lot of people that are in the water, and if

893
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,879
Speaker 3: you hit the alarm, what happens is the panic can

894
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 3: give someone a herd attack or something else can happen

895
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 3: in the actual stress of trying to get out of

896
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:46,759
Speaker 3: the water. So we've got to coordinate it quite well

897
00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:48,920
Speaker 3: and have everyone staggered along and then we try and

898
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 3: bring them out all in a in one go. But yeah,

899
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,320
Speaker 3: people do panic and run out and get out of

900
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:55,120
Speaker 3: the water pretty quick.

901
00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 4: There's a lot of panic about sharks.

902
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,800
Speaker 2: But how many years have you been in this industry?

903
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:02,640
Speaker 2: How many years you've been.

904
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 4: In life going? So I've done thirty two years.

905
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 2: And how's from man to man? How's your mental health?

906
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,960
Speaker 2: How has it affected you psychologically? Yeah?

907
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 3: I think at times, you know, you have other things

908
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,840
Speaker 3: happen in your life and then that triggers things.

909
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,400
Speaker 2: That you've dealt with at the beach.

910
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 3: And you know, it's things like that, and it's good

911
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:25,880
Speaker 3: we've got in place now because we can ring David

912
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,319
Speaker 3: said as well outside of work, and you can if

913
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,560
Speaker 3: you're feeling a bit struggling a bit with something or

914
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,279
Speaker 3: whatever it is, and then he'll talk through something's not right.

915
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,319
Speaker 3: And he noticed too with other guys, what if they're

916
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,799
Speaker 3: not right that day or something's not right and they're

917
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,120
Speaker 3: a bit different, you know, and normally they're joking around

918
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:47,040
Speaker 3: and there's something they're not as javel and things.

919
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:48,680
Speaker 4: Like that, so you can sort of notice it.

920
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,239
Speaker 3: And then because I look back now and I think

921
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,799
Speaker 3: it's good had we've had that and the change of

922
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:56,839
Speaker 3: when I was back in the nineties, because I think

923
00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:58,880
Speaker 3: that was the biggest effect for me was back in

924
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,040
Speaker 3: the nineties where two of the lifeguards I work with

925
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:07,280
Speaker 3: have finished lifeguarding ended up committed suicide. So I'm wondering

926
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:11,200
Speaker 3: whether it had something to do with the job in

927
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,080
Speaker 3: that era and that's the cause, and maybe it's something

928
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:15,080
Speaker 3: else outside as well.

929
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,240
Speaker 2: And you're probably the prime example to ask this question

930
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,800
Speaker 2: for even when you're off duty, something can trigger something

931
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,000
Speaker 2: that takes you back on ye to duce you, right,

932
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:31,279
Speaker 2: So that could have possibly had had an effect on

933
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:32,760
Speaker 2: those two gentlemen, right, Yes.

934
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:34,560
Speaker 4: Ye, God for sure.

935
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 3: I know because we do a lot of paddles up

936
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:39,799
Speaker 3: around with the ocean ski paddling with the squad, and

937
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 3: we go up and go past the gap, and when

938
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,399
Speaker 3: I do those sessions, I never really performed that well

939
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:48,600
Speaker 3: when we do those sessions there, and I think it's

940
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 3: because I've had so many bodies and I'm going past

941
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 3: where I've dealt with all that in the past, and

942
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 3: something must trigger me that I just can't. I'm not

943
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,319
Speaker 3: the same to do it in that when it's around that.

944
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 4: Area, that spot.

945
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:07,840
Speaker 3: So it definitely, yeah, you can recognize. I always thought

946
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,919
Speaker 3: you always don't seem to paddle that well when I'm

947
00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:14,399
Speaker 3: in this in this area, and I'm thinking that it's

948
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:15,879
Speaker 3: got to be something to do with that, because that's

949
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,279
Speaker 3: a part of you know, you're seeing people in some

950
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,280
Speaker 3: pretty bad situations, you know. And the other thing too, though,

951
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,520
Speaker 3: is what people don't realize. People jumping off the gap,

952
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 3: which is one hundred meters or two hundred depending where

953
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,560
Speaker 3: you go off. Just because you jump off a cliff

954
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 3: doesn't mean you're going to die instantly either.

955
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,760
Speaker 4: It all depends how you land. There's plenty.

956
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,480
Speaker 3: I've gone up and I've held on to them massive

957
00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,720
Speaker 3: internal injuries, but they're alive, and you hold on until

958
00:42:41,719 --> 00:42:45,680
Speaker 3: they die on your arms. And in that moment they

959
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,520
Speaker 3: know they're dying, they're saying, oh, can you tell my

960
00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:51,040
Speaker 3: kids this, my mom and this my wife this and

961
00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:55,000
Speaker 3: whatever the reason, and you become a part of that

962
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 3: grieving process and it can be quite difficult in that

963
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 3: pure and we deal with you know, a.

964
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:02,319
Speaker 4: Lot of that.

965
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 3: And I think people think you jump off and they

966
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 3: die in straight away, but doesn't. It all depends on

967
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,440
Speaker 3: what how you land. You'll have a good you have

968
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:12,960
Speaker 3: some good injuries. It doesn't mean you're going to know.

969
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 3: And some people have survived as well in certain ways.

970
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:22,600
Speaker 3: But it's something that that's something that's pretty big for lifeguards,

971
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,440
Speaker 3: and a lot of people don't really realize. And the

972
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:27,640
Speaker 3: families want to come and see the people that are

973
00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:28,919
Speaker 3: last with the loved ones.

974
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,440
Speaker 2: Of course, you need to become.

975
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,880
Speaker 4: Days and days and day grieving.

976
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:36,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that can be hard, and that's why we

977
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:39,279
Speaker 3: brought in the mental side, so we now train because

978
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:41,440
Speaker 3: I didn't believe. I thought when I was dealing with

979
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,080
Speaker 3: a lot and a lot of the guys were dealing

980
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 3: with it. You deal with it and then you get

981
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 3: a counselor coming after it. And I thought, the damage

982
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:51,319
Speaker 3: is done, and so now we're training our minds that

983
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:51,719
Speaker 3: if you.

984
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 4: And David did a lot of work.

985
00:43:54,920 --> 00:44:00,120
Speaker 3: With the soldiers who went to Afghanistan and things from Australia,

986
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:02,719
Speaker 3: and he's trying this now to say, well, this is

987
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 3: your job, this is what's going to happen. You work

988
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:08,359
Speaker 3: as a lifeguard, you're going to get all these things

989
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:10,080
Speaker 3: are going to happen. And he said, it's like when

990
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:11,799
Speaker 3: I explained to people that are going to war, you're

991
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,200
Speaker 3: all there, you're all mates. You could be there in

992
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:14,879
Speaker 3: his head to be.

993
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 2: Blind, none of you. Some of you aren't coming home.

994
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,319
Speaker 2: That's and that's the way I dealt with it, right.

995
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:22,759
Speaker 2: I went into combat, into my operation thinking all of

996
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:24,640
Speaker 2: us aren't going to come home. I already prepared myself

997
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:28,200
Speaker 2: fifty percent. So when it did happen, and I'd done

998
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:30,680
Speaker 2: that by myself, but when it did happen, I was

999
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,560
Speaker 2: you know, I was already fifty percent there. So you

1000
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:35,439
Speaker 2: know I was already fifty percent prepared and I could

1001
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:37,480
Speaker 2: do the other fifty percent with the people in the room,

1002
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,200
Speaker 2: my teammates, et cetera, et cetera. That's great that.

1003
00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 3: It's the same sort of yeah, same mentality is that

1004
00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 3: knowing that and preparing that that's going to happen, and

1005
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:49,680
Speaker 3: also not just being your job you go it's out

1006
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:50,839
Speaker 3: of our control, where just.

1007
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:53,439
Speaker 2: Picking the pieces up try and control what you can't

1008
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:53,600
Speaker 2: go to.

1009
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:55,680
Speaker 3: That's trot and that's that's what we've been trying to

1010
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 3: work on with a lot of it, and especially younger guys,

1011
00:44:57,640 --> 00:44:59,680
Speaker 3: because it's harder for the younger guys. I mean, I'm

1012
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 3: lucky now, I've got the lot of experience and you're

1013
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:04,880
Speaker 3: coming out of that and working on your own mind

1014
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,800
Speaker 3: to get through that. But a young guy at twenty

1015
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 3: twenty one, yeah, you haven't got the experience to deal

1016
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:11,440
Speaker 3: with that.

1017
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,080
Speaker 2: Some that's in place, mate, because that will save lives,

1018
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:17,360
Speaker 2: like you said, not in the sea, but on the

1019
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,359
Speaker 2: other on the other side of the of the coin, mate,

1020
00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:23,160
Speaker 2: which is it's just deal with those other stuff.

1021
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:26,040
Speaker 3: That people probably even know what lifeguards deal with. And

1022
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:28,400
Speaker 3: you know it's the other side is great. You know,

1023
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 3: turn up to a beach every day, you get your

1024
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 3: training break, you go surfing, you go do what you Yeah,

1025
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:36,319
Speaker 3: that side of it and meeting different people every day,

1026
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:38,480
Speaker 3: and so there's a great side of being a lifeguard,

1027
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,720
Speaker 3: but there's also that dark side as well that people

1028
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:42,120
Speaker 3: don't know.

1029
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:45,360
Speaker 2: And to wrap up on what's next for you, hopo

1030
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,200
Speaker 2: another series? What you what you're doing?

1031
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:50,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll get another season out, another series and then

1032
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,080
Speaker 3: continue on working. I mean, I'm fifty six now, so

1033
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:59,200
Speaker 3: see how we having more years. I've got your body's.

1034
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:02,520
Speaker 4: Keep going on. But look, I'm trying to other stuff with.

1035
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:07,279
Speaker 4: I got my podcast. I've also got you know, the beach.

1036
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:12,120
Speaker 2: Beach. Let's not forget that. Check out hops podcast. Life

1037
00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:16,160
Speaker 2: is a beach. I'll be checking out for sure. So mate,

1038
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,240
Speaker 2: thanks you ever so much for coming on headgame. Mate,

1039
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 2: keep saving lives. That's all I can say. I know you,

1040
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:23,520
Speaker 2: I can see you're passionate about I can see the

1041
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:26,439
Speaker 2: emotion from what you were talking about, mate, And you're

1042
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 2: born to You're born to save lives, mate, so keep

1043
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:28,759
Speaker 2: doing it.

1044
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:29,560
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks for having me.

1045
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:31,799
Speaker 3: It's been great and it's yeah, it's a passion that's

1046
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:34,160
Speaker 3: in me, that saving lives is.

1047
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:35,279
Speaker 4: That's probably what.

1048
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:43,760
Speaker 2: Cheers Poppo has his own podcast. It's called Life's a Beach.

1049
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:46,279
Speaker 2: If you'd like to check it out, our link the

1050
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:49,520
Speaker 2: details in the show notes. Thanks for listening to this

1051
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:52,759
Speaker 2: episode of head Game. If you enjoyed it, please leave

1052
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 2: me a review. I'm at Middleton. Catch you in the

1053
00:46:56,560 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 2: next episode.