Gold Coast Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

When you think of Australian surf beaches, you think of the Surf Lifesavers. The first Surf Lifesaving Club was formed on the Sydney NSW beaches in 1907, staffed by volunteers to help protect people in the Australian surf.

Surf Life Saving clubs quickly spread across the Australian coast, with the Gold Coast clubs becoming the stalwarts of the Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) organisation. The Gold Coast boasts nine Surf Lifesaving clubs, protecting its many beaches, including Broadbeach and the famous surf beach, Kirra Beach.

Surf lifesavers have rescued over 500,000 people from the surf in the past 100 years. Their focus is on safety, with no losses of life in the past 100 years from people who swim between the flags.

A mixture of professionals and volunteers now staffs the Surf Lifesaving clubs. They train hard, work hard and once a year they compete hard. Every year, all the SLSA clubs in Australia get together to compete in the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

The Gold Coast's Kurrawa Beach has been home to these events for the past 12 years. In 2007, the championships will be held in Western Australia.

There are also many clubs competing from overseas which makes this event a true world championship event. Over 7500 people compete in these events, second only in size to the Olympics. They pit themselves against each other in running, rescue boat, iron men, swimmers and a whole lot of other events, all vying for the title of the best club and best surf lifesaver.