Bondi Rescue

Tuesday February 24 8.00pm

Relaxing alone on the sand may seem a largely introverted experience, but beach goers at Bondi spend a lot of time checking out what everyone else is up to.

The boys look at the girls, the girls look to see if they’re being watched, the parents watch the kids, the ‘trendies’ watch themselves, the surfers watch the waves, and the police watch the trouble makers. “Lifeguards”, as Yatesy says, “well, we watch everyone, including of course bag thieves”.

This episode, thieves are at large on the beach and anything unattended is at risk. With conditions in the water mild, lifeguards take the opportunity to scope out perpetrators.

The first is spotted rifling through bags behind the bather’s pavilion. These bags have been delivered by his partner in crime, who continues collecting bags on the sand. Lifeguards move in and hold the pair until the police arrive.

Though it seems there may be one more still on the prowl – and on the intensely crowded sands of Bondi, locating a thief, is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Dean Gladstone Aka “Deano”
Lifeguard
Nine years ago, 31-year-old deano decided he’d be better suited as a lifeguard than a plumber. He’s now a team leader and one of the most highly regarded ‘watermen’ on the team at Bondi.

Deano won audience hearts by proposing to his girlfriend Lily amongst the waves at Bondi, and his thoughtful nature and diplomacy, has made him a hit among the team.

In 2009, he hopes to take out the lifeguard challenge beating old rivals Greg Bishop and Scotty Thompson.

Tuesday February 17 8.00pm

Paris Hilton isn’t the only one coming to Australia’s most famous beach to party.

Bondi Beach seems to be the hottest ticket in Sydney as 10,000 party-goers make their way onto the bondi sand to attend a New Year’s eve dance party. By 5am on New Year’s morning it is the job of four lifeguards to handle over 5,000 inebriated revelers. Reckless behaviour swamps our lifeguards as they take responsibility for people no longer able to care for themselves.

A group of boys intent on causing trouble soon find themselves in need of help as one comes dangerously close to drowning before being rescued and whisked away in an ambulance. Meanwhile on the beach, the police arrest one of his rowdy friends for being a public menace.

In the midst of the fracas, another man attempts to restore his dislocated shoulder to it’s rightful position, a woman is carried up with a bee sting in her foot, and drunk swimmers continue to be rescued from the waves.

But as lifeguard Kerrbox says, “You can’t help but love the place.”

Tuesday February 10 8.00pm

Drug and alcohol abuse take centre stage at Bondi when thousands of revelers pour out of a dance music concert onto the beach. The lifeguards kick off 2009 by attending to those passed out on the sand and checking to make sure no one has overdosed. The result is a mix of concern, alarm, and humour.

A drunken pro skater suffers a large cut to his hand, but has great trouble explaining to lifeguards and ambulance officers how it happened. In the midst of his treatment, a seven year old girl is brought forward to the lifeguards with a large tic buried in her scalp. Despite lifeguards best efforts they just can’t get the tic out!

In the midst of the drunken people, rescues, and first-aids, a woman reports her 70 year old mental- ly-ill brother lost on the beach.

Party crowds, drugs, alcohol and surf – nowhere else does New Year’s quite like Bondi, fortunately no other lifeguard can keep a beach safe like our lifeguards can.

RYAN CLARK AKA “WHIPPET”
LIFEGUARD

Wise beyond his 24 years ‘Whippet’ is, despite his young age and five years service, virtually a senior player on the team. Given the chance though he’s also a class clown, quick with a cheeky quip followed with a wry smile.

A poor trainer and a bad eater, Whippet is surprisingly one of the best athletes on the lifeguard team. He laugh- ingly puts it down to quality meat pies and low-carb beer although everyone else knows it’s due to a lifetime in the testing waters of Bronte Beach and coming from a family of watermen.

A first class lifeguard and all round funny man he’s one of Bondi lifeguard’s most loved characters.

Tuesday February 3 8.00pm

Our trusty Bondi Lifeguards are back for another season and they certainly have their work cut out for them. Over the course of the summer, beachgoers expect sun, sand and surf, but it will take more than just sunscreen to protect them and keep them safe during their visit to Bondi Beach this season.

With shark attacking swimmers and surfers all over Australia, it doesn’t take long before Bondi Beach is struck down with the shark plague. In this gripping episode shark fins are spotted in the waters off Bondi and thousands of swim- mers, surfers and holiday makers are forced to evacuate the surf en masse.

Combine shark sightings with the every day chaos, emergency rescues and the summer heat of Bondi Beach and our boys in blue definitely have their work cut out for them.

Did you know?

*Our boys in blue can perform around 2,500 rescues each season, with crowds exceeding 2.5 million people per year.

*Helmet cams, lightweight board mounted cameras, underwater photography and water proof sound equipment allow viewers to experience all the action of the dramatic rescues.

7.00pm weeknights

Few parties get bigger than the New Year’s Eve dance party at Bondi as over 5,000 revellers dance in the New Year until 6 am. The Lifeguards are flat out on New Years Day as they attend drug and alcohol affected partygoers on the beach. An ecstacy overdose and a surfer’s severely dislocated shoulder are among the most serious cases. To make matters worse Bondi experiences one of the hottest days on record as the thermometer hovers above 45 degrees and everyone wilts in the heat.

7.00pm weeknights

Japanese language student Takahiro Ono is found lifeless in the water on a surprisingly calm day. With no breath and no pulse a frantic resuscitation effort begins as lifeguards come to his rescue. Finally a defibrillator shocks him back to life. Ten minutes after the incident Taka is fully conscious. But no one yet knows what caused the emergency in the first place. On Australia Day the crowds come to celebrate on the sand, but one group of revellers find themselves drifting towards New Zealand on blow-up animals.

7.00pm weeknights

The lifeguards have an opportunity to show what they’re made of in the Lifeguard Challenge – a mid-season competition to prove who’s the fittest and fastest among the elite watermen. Tensions run deep between old-hand Corey and young Turk Reidy as they go head-to-head in the water. Surprisingly, for such a handsome group of men, many of the lifeguards are single. They all decide to head off to a speed dating session to try their luck – with hilarious results. Meanwhile doctors discover what really happened to Takahiro Ono suffered a heart attack in the water and didn’t drown as some suspected.

7.00pm weeknights

There’s a big swell heading for Bondi and the fearsome rips will be working overtime. But what’s dangerous for mere mortals is a playground for the elite watermen as they take to the water on their rescue boards at the start of the day. A morning of fun turns out to be the busiest day of summer with thirty-five rescues conducted in a frantic five-minute period. If the big swell isn’t dangerous enough the wind has washed in thousands of bluebottles.

7.00pm weeknights

Bondi is a circus and some of the high-wire acts performed by the locals defy description. Two young boys are swept from treacherous “flat rock” leaving them with a bloody momento of scrapes and cuts on their backsides – but while the fun’s gone out of the circus at least they’re still alive. Equally lucky is Erin, a female surfer who wipes-out on the sand and fears she’s broken her back.

7.00pm weeknights

Our trusty Bondi Lifeguards are back for another season and they certainly have their work cut out for them. Over the course of the summer, beachgoers expect sun sand and surf, but it will take more than just sunscreen to protect them and keep them safe during their visit to Bondi beach.
In this episode, responding to a devastating call for help, the Lifeguards show how dangerous the beach can be for children. One minute it’s their playground, the next they could be missing, drowning or worse.