1950 - present

Harry Nightingale, Jr was born in Camperdown Hospital before living in Sri Lanka for the first five years of his life. There, his dad Harry Nightingale, Sr was establishing surf lifesaving for that country after serving in World War 2. The younger Harry remembers swimming in chlorinated pools in Sri Lanka, with his dad, and noticing the strong chemical smell as well as the beautiful scenery and the egalitarian way in which the elder Harry worked with a broad cross-section of society to implement training and safety protocols and reduce the number of drownings.

The Nightingale family relocated back to Bondi in 1955, when Harry, Jr was five. He attended Bondi Beach Public School, and his dad became heavily involved in Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club. Nightingale the younger often took to the surf to not only swim but learn lifesaving from the older club members. In 1965, he passed the Bronze Medallion test. His enthusiasm for surfing led him to travel the globe extensively to ride large and powerful waves in exotic isolated locations.

Many Bondi locals are happy to tell the story of how Harry became involved in eco-activism during the 1980s. When a local company began dumping dirt and building materials directly on to the sand at South Bondi – the pile became known as Shipton’s Dump – Harry stood up to the truck drivers, climbed the large mound of hard rubbish, and refused to leave. The incident became famous and was the spark for broader protests, and illegal dumping on to the beach was eventually disallowed.

In 1997, having worked as a photo re-toucher, a labourer, pool attendant and an aerobics instructor, Harry applied to become a beach inspector. He’d spent his life surfing, both locally and internationally, and being trained by his dad and the surf-club members, so he was well positioned to excel in the role. He went on to educate many of the younger team members about the nuances of the surf at Bondi Beach, and at age 47, he became the Bondi lifeguards’ oldest recruit. During his 18 years of service, he witnessed many changes, including the transition from the title of ‘beach inspector’ to that of ‘lifeguard’, introduction of the worldwide smash-hit TV show Bondi Rescue, and the widespread beach-safety education initiatives that spread far and wide as a result of the program.

Harry and his wife now live in Mollymook, a beautiful town on the NSW south coast, and he’s never too far from the surf while living out his ‘Harry, senior’ years.

Courtesy Harry Nightingale, Ben Davies and Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club.