Lifesaving season ends

Volunteer lifesavers from Umina and Ocean Beach surf life saving clubs took down the red and yellow flags for the last time when the 2009-2010 patrol season officially ended on April 26.

Both clubs have reported strong membership and volunteer patrol hours as well as high attendance figures over the season, according to Surf Lifesaving NSW spokesperson Ms Donna Wishart.

Umina Beach reported 99,863 visitors attend the beach over the season while Ocean Beach reported 46,897 people.

Umina Beach Surf Life Saving Club saw 188 patrol members volunteer a total of almost 7000 hours patrolling the beach.

Although rescue statistics are still be collected and will not be known until the end of the month, Ms Wishart said that Umina performed 25 rescues, 96 first aid cases and 3352 preventable actions.

With a total club membership of almost 900 members, Umina Beach Surf Life Saving Club saw "a very successful year", particularly in the area of surf sports competition.

"We ran a nippers surf camp run over two weekends in January which paid big dividends," club secretary Ms Christine Lavers said.

"The club experienced its most successful medal haul in years at the NSW State Championships at Swansea with Unima youngsters coming home with nine medals from the competition.

"The new clubhouse has also played a part in attracting additional members this season. "The function centre facilities are being regularly accessed by the council, Rotary and school groups for meetings and other community-based activities."

Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club saw 115 patrol members volunteer a total of almost 5500 hours patrolling the beach that included 12 rescues and 69 first aid cases.

Patrol members from Ocean Beach also carried out 779 preventable actions while on duty.

Ocean Beach reported having 390 members throughout the season including 198 nippers.

Ocean Beach president Mr Scott Hannell said the club had seen a great year in many aspects of operation with Alessandra and Elyssia Gasparotto both bringing back medals from the State Championships and Keelan Bridge and Wade Hannell displaying standout performances.

"We are still getting used to the new clubhouse and have been focusing on getting the equipment storage areas set up correctly," Mr Hannell said.

"We were successful in getting a government grant to install a 100,000 litre water tank, so we're now fully self-sufficient.

"The function centre is being utilised for weddings and mid-week conferences and is an area of revenue the club hopes will grow, so we can continue to provide quality lifesaving services to the local community and visitors to the beach."

The 2010-2011 patrol season will commence later this year on September 25.

Email, 6 May 2010 Donna Wishart, Surf Life Saving NSW