36 Australian Geographic
T
HE ICONIC REEL-and-line device on
display here at a Bondi lifesaving
carnival in the late 1950s echoes the
prototype crafted by Lyster Ormsby in 1907.
Ormsby created a miniature device with a
cotton bobbin and a hairpin, which became the
model for the surfing reel used across Australia
for nearly 90 years. Attached to this device, surf
lifesavers would sprint and swim towards a
troubled beachgoer and then be reeled back in
by a four-man team on the beach.
According to Professor Sean Brawley, a
historian at Macquarie University, ‘the reel’ has
always distinguished Aussie lifesavers from
Americans, who preferred running into the
waves with torpedo buoys. The reel “reflects the
community culture of Australian surf lifesavers,
rather than the more individualist approach of
the Americans”, he says. This winching system
survived, with tweaks – a release pin, better
belts and lighter ropes – until it was replaced in
1993 by the newer technologies of inflatable
surf boats, rescue boards and tubes.
Ormsby was part of the group that, in
February 1907, formed the Bondi Surf Bathers’
Life Saving Club, now the oldest in the world.
Following Bondi, clubs sprang up around the
nation, and bronzed surf lifesavers came to
epitomise Australia’s blossoming beach culture.
Despite the fact that the club was a volunteer
organisation, Ormsby insisted on strict rosters,
which contributed to the movement’s success.
He also guided the clubs towards a national body- a structure that California’s surf lifesavers
replicated after visiting Australia in 1950s.
Although professional lifeguards watch
over the busiest beaches today, surf lifesaving
volunteers still patrol on public holidays and
weekends, and look after smaller beaches. About
167,000 Australians volunteer, and, along with
the Australian Lifeguard Service (ALS), rescue
roughly 12,000 people every year.
NATSUMI PENBERTHY
Reeling in
the surf
For many decades a great piece of Aussie ingenuity
was used as an aid for rescuing and safely returning
struggling swimmers to shore.
OUR HISTORY
STATE LIBRARY OF NSW A392001