1906

The surf-lifesaving reel was invented in 1906 by Lyster Ormsby, a foundation member of Bondi Surf Bathers Surf Life Saving Club (BSBSLSC), along with fellow club members Percy Flynn and Sig Fullwood. Countless Australians and tourists have been saved by a volunteer lifesaver equipped with a reel, line and belt.

Australia’s surf-lifesaving clubs were the world’s first. In 1906, BSBSLSC’s Lyster Ormsby used a cotton reel and two bobby pins to build a model of a portable horizontal reel for the rope. The first full-size reel was built by Sergeant John Bond of Victoria Barracks, in Paddington, and was improved on that year by Sydney coach builder G. H. Olding, whose final design was used till 1993.

A lifesaver wearing a belt with a rope attached was enabled to reach a distressed swimmer, and the crew members on the beach could then pull the person back to the safety of the sand. The lifesavers had to be disciplined and controlled to perform any rescue efficiently.

It is widely believed that the first person to be saved by a lifesaver using a reel, rope and belt was eight-year-old Charlie Kingsford-Smith, who later became a famous aviator. ‘Belt and reel’ equipment is still used in lifesaving competitions, but in 1994 it was phased out of active rescue service. Nowadays, lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers use jet ski’s and ‘rubber duckies’ – inflatable boats that have an outboard motor – to perform more than half of all rescues. They also use rescue boards.

The rescue methods the Australians pioneered continue to be used throughout the world. Many lives have been saved due to volunteer surf lifesaving, as begun at Bondi Beach, and it’s now an integral part of Australia’s beach scene. Volunteer-run clubs, carnivals and competitions are a big part of the Australian summer. During the 1999–2000 summer season, for example, 269 clubs throughout Australia and their 98,000 members were involved in activities run by Surf Life Saving Australia. Of the members, 21,000 patrolled beaches and performed more than 10,000 surf rescues.

Images courtesy Bondi Surf Bathers Surf Life Saving Club, Waverley Library Local Studies Collection, State and the National Library of Australia.