Central Coast Council Lifeguard, James Koch, dominated at this year’s Australian Professional Ocean Lifeguard Association’s (APOLA) Conference at Coffs Harbour on Friday 4 May.

The Conference, held at Park Beach, saw James take out first place in the Lifeguard Carnival surf race, board race and lifeguard mission, a great achievement to see out the end of the beach patrol season.

Mayor Jane Smith was pleased with James’ efforts and congratulated him on a well-deserved win.

“We always knew our Lifeguards were the best in the business and James’ success across all events has confirmed this,” Mayor Smith said.

“I would like to congratulate James on his win and the entire Beach Safety team for another great season.”

Mayor Jane Smith said the Conference, attended by a number of coastal councils across New South Wales and Gold Coast City Lifeguards, focused on beach water safety programs and the role of knowledgeable bystanders and highlighted the importance of educating the public to look out for one another.

“Keeping our community safe on local beaches is a top priority and a vital tool in doing this is educating all beachgoers about how to look out for one another when in and around the surf,” Mayor Smith said.

“Having the knowledge to be able to identify rips and how to react in an emergency situation is a crucial step in minimising beach incidents, especially now the beach patrol season has finished.”

Central Coast Council beach patrol season came to an official close on Monday 30 April with the past summer season seeing over three million people visit the Coast’s patrolled beaches. Beach Safety staff completed a total of 779 rescues and treated over 5092 first aid incidents with 53,109 preventative actions (advising swimmers to relocate to patrol area).

Director Connected Communities, Julie Vaughan said Central Coast Council Lifeguards have faced a number of challenges this year, one of their biggest being unable to consistently monitor remote areas far away from the flags.

“Drones were trialled within service areas this season and these eyes in the sky are part of our strategy to increase Lifeguards reach outside patrolled locations,” Ms Vaughan said

“As well as monitoring remote areas that are away from flags, drone technology can be used for training purposes, to monitor aquatic environments to confirm potential shark sightings and identification of surf conditions at our beautiful beaches that can then be used across social media networks to highlight a dangerous rip or location.

“This was used with great success this season with the drone taking photo of the rip at Avoca Beach Ficus Avenue Tower which was posted on Council’s Twitter page for a greater reach across our community.

“Combining this new technology with increased awareness within our community will help ensure greater community safety in the water and on our beaches,” Ms Vaughan said.

Interested in becoming a Lifeguard next season? Council will be holding information nights for potential Lifeguards throughout June with the dates to be advertised on Council’s Facebook and Twitter at the end of May. The beach safety patrol season will resume on Saturday 29 September this year.