1980

Little did Julie Blacker know when she joined Bondi Surf Life Saving Club’s first female Bronze squad in 1980 aged 16 that she would became one of Australia’s first official female life savers.

"My brother Shane was junior club captain and we would be at the beach and at the club every Sunday. I was around the club all the time. It was a family thing. To me, doing my Bronze was never a big deal. Since I was down at the beach anyway I thought I may as well.
The men weren't real thrilled about losing their card room [for the women to train]. Club captain Phil Easson made sure they didn't muck around too much. I was shielded from a lot, but you knew there were those who didn't want you there."

The four women in the first Bronze squad felt confident about their exam in early October - so much so that Easson let his assistants take them to Coogee for the assessment. Julie's strongest memories of those two days are of the Winter-like cold and the carpets of seaweed. "It was so thick, it made doing a belt rescue so much harder. It was like hell getting through, but we did it.”

The squad failed on technicalities after a gruelling and excessively long exam. The male examiners then left to have a beer while the women were driven back to Bondi in the back of a ute. They resat the exam that year and passed within five minutes.

Julie was the only squad member to stay on at the club. She has fond memories of being on patrol. “It was quite social, there were lots of characters. I remember once when there was a shark alarm, one of the guys sticking a whopping great knife between his teeth and heading out on a board to look for it. I patrolled for a couple of seasons, then left when I finished school, started working and other things took over."

Courtesy Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club.