The in-coming post war popularity of people visiting ocean beaches was foreseen by Mr. Jack Meehan, who was the Secretary and Senior Instructor of the Williamstown Swimming and Life Saving Club.

He and another member of the Williamstown club, Mr. Bill Tyrell, who was the Chief Instructor saw the need to establish a Surf Life Saving Club at Point Lonsdale. The experience and training gained in a surf environment partly motivated this idea, as it would benefit the Williamstown Club with the experience that the members gained in the surf.

In 1946, the Williamstown Swimming and Life Saving Club wrote to the Borough of Queenscliffe, suggesting that there was a need to establish a Surf Life Saving Club in Point Lonsdale. A meeting was held, with the assistance of Mr. Alex Lowe, who was the proprietor of the General Store in Point Lonsdale, however there was not a great deal of community interest in the idea. A subsequent meeting proved to be more successful, with a group from the local Youth Club showing interest. Some time later, another meeting was held and a committee was formed to establish the Club. That Summer, patrols were conducted to assist the members in ‘gaining experience in the surf’. The main aim of their training during the first season was for the members to gain their Surf Bronze, which was examined at the Torquay beach. Records of who were the first members for that season are unclear, but eleven Point Lonsdale members gained their Surf Bronze in February of 1948.

For the first season, the only equipment consisted of a Reel, Line and Belt, which was loaned by the Williamstown Club.

In March of 1947, the Progress Association wrote to the Borough of Queenscliffe, requesting that the club be permitted to occupy the Seabrook Memorial, adjacent to the ‘Step’s Beach’ at Point Lonsdale. Council had agreed and by the following season, the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club had a Clubhouse, at the top of the sand dune, over looking the Step’s Beach. In 1964, the current Clubrooms (located at the corner of Buckley’s and Ocean Road was officially opened. In 1982, the Surf Rescue Base was officially opened at the Back Beach.Major alterations were made in the period between 1993 and 1996 and in December of 1996, the Glaneuse Bar was officially opened.

The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club was now established, had a Clubhouse, provided Surf Rescue Patrols at Point Lonsdale and was competing at Surf Life Saving Carnivals. Surf Rescue Patrols have been provided continuously during the ‘Summer Period’ at the Step’s Surf Beach and now at the Back (Glaneuse) Beach.

The other major development in the formation of the club, was the establishment of the Junior Activities (Nippers) Program in 1967. This training program was a major initiative to the club as it trained children in surf awareness, surf life saving competition, basic first aid and resuscitation, as well as being an avenue to membership recruitment.

In October of 1997, the Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary during a weekend of special events. Many members (past and present), friends and supporters gathered to remember the past. The major event was a Gala Dinner, held on the Saturday with over 400 people attending.

During 2001 a major works program commenced at the Back Beach Base to the Surf Rescue Base to add additional storage, training and meeting facilities, to upgrade the current facilities and to add public toilet amenities. The Club’s Building Committee, led by Bruce Smith and Graeme Frankpitt completed this major project and it was officially opened in January 2002. In the same year the Building Committee oversaw another major project, which was to build a brand new facility at the Santa Casa Beach Queenscliff, to support the Nipper program and for the Professional Lifeguard Outpost, located there. The Santa Casa Surf Rescue Base was completed in 2002 and officially opened in March 2003.

In 2005 the Club was awarded the Life Saving Victoria Awards of Excellence Club of the Year 2005 Award. This was due it’s broad range of activities that  assisted to ensure a safer beach and aquatic environment for the community and the areas highlighted included Lifesaving, Aquatic Sport, Youth and Leadership Development, Administration and Community Service. In 2006 the Club was Victoria’s nomination for the Surf Life Saving Australia Awards of Excellence Club of the Year 2005 Award and was presented with a award for being a finalist.

Surf Rescue

Since formation in 1947, there have been 1 569 (as of 1/5/06) officially recorded rescues, by volunteer surf life savers and professional lifeguards at Point Lonsdale, during rostered patrols. This figure also includes Queenscliff which has been patrolled by professional lifeguards since the 1999 / 2000 season. This figure does not include rescues performed out of the normal patrol area, at times other than patrol periods, by members as part of other surf rescue services or rescues which have not been officially recorded. If these were all added, the figure would be several hundred higher. Thousands of First Aid cases have been performed, fourteen persons have been resuscitated and thousands of rescues have been prevented, by the advice and warnings given to beach users.

Over the years, there has been a large development in the type of equipment utilised by Surf Rescue Patrols. In the early days, the Reel, Line and Belt was the primary piece of rescue equipment. In time, the Surf Boat was introduced, so to was the Rescue Board. Today, the Rescue Tube, Inflatable Rescue Boat and Rescue Board, supported by the Club’s All Terrain Vehicle are the primary pieces of rescue equipment. The days of equipment such as the Eve Rocker are long gone, with modern oxygen resuscitation, defibrillators and advanced first aid equipment being used. Modern two way radio equipment is used for patrol communication and for liaison with other Clubs, Life Saving Victoria and other Rescue Services.

There have been many significant rescues performed by members of the club and a number of bravery awards given to Point Lonsdale members for their heroic efforts. Some of the major rescues have been:

In March of 1953, a mass rescue alarm was raised by the Lonsdale Lighthouse keeper. Eleven students were swimming at the unpatrolled (Glaneuse) Surf Beach. Fortunately, some local life savers were found and ten of the students were retrieved from the heavy surf. Unfortunately one of the students drowned. Two lifesavers, Mr. Jim Howden and Mr. Fred Moore received the Bronze Medal Award of the Royal Humane Society for their gallant efforts on this day.

While members competed at a Surf Carnival at Ocean Grove in 1955, the alarm was raised from Queenscliff, for a group of swimmers in trouble and a team was sent to rescue those who got into difficulty. After the delay in reaching the scene, one person was found and resuscitated, while the other was lost.

In November of 1968, two swimmers got into difficulty, while swimming at the Surf Beach. Conditions were unfavourable and surf life savers had earlier closed the beach, due to the unsafe conditions. Many lifesavers were involved in a very dangerous and prolonged rescue. Two lifesavers, Mr. Barry Watt and Mr. Bob Luce swam out with Belt attached, but were unable to reach the pair. A surf board was used by another lifesaver, Mr. Rob Anderson, but he was also unable to reach the pair, who ended up being washed up unconscious on the reef, at the beach at the end of Fellows Road. One was successfully resuscitated and the other was not.

In 1983, two members, Mr. Alan Joyce and Mr. David Ponsford who were on duty in the Surf Life Saving Offshore Rescue Boat, were called to a SCUBA diving rescue at Queenscliff. The young female diver had collapsed after several dives. She was unconscious, had no pulse or breathing and would have died, except for the efforts of these two members. She was successfully resuscitated and fortunately made a full recovery.

Also in 1983, two members, Mr. Tim Maishman and Mr. Neil Heathcote were training in St Kilda on their surf skis. They noticed four people lying face down in the water, with one man dragging one of the four. He lost contact with the little girl, but luckily the two lifesavers recovered her. She was unconscious and was without a pulse. Fortunately she was successfully resuscitated and the other three were taken safely back to shore. The two members received a bravery award from the City of Melbourne, for their efforts at this unpatrolled beach.

The Point Lonsdale Club has done very well in recent years in the State Patrol Efficiency Competition, which is organised by Surf Life Saving - Victoria. The Competition is designed to test all facets of patrolling from the thoroughness of log books, to rescue and resuscitation technique, amongst the 32 Victorian Surf Life Saving Clubs. The major achievement was during the 1991 / 1992 season, when Point Lonsdale won the Competition. In the 1992 / 1993 and 1997 / 1998 seasons, the Club was placed second, in the 1996 / 1997 season, the Club was placed third and in the 2004 / 2005 season, the Club was placed fifth.

During 1999, the Club (lead by Matthew Ponsford) approached the Borough of Queenscliffe and Surf Life Saving - Victoria in relation to providing a life saving service at Queenscliff, the first time that a service would be offered at Queenscliff. The 1999 / 2000 Season saw a successful trial operate and now this is an established patrolled location, at the Santa Casa Beach Queenscliff.

Surf Sports

The Point Lonsdale club has had a long and distinguished history in Surf Life Saving Competition. In the first season, competitors attended every Surf Carnival that was conducted along the Victoria coast. In the first Australian Championships attended by the Club in 1948, a Rescue and Resuscitation team (the first ever from Victoria) represented the club at Manly. The successful competition areas in the early years were those of Rescue and Resuscitation, Surf Swimming and the March Past. Point Lonsdale was the first Victorian club to receive a place in the Australian Titles, when Mr. Des Webb gained a third place in the Senior Belt Race Title. Since formation, there have been over 90 Victorian Titles won in these areas.

As time went on, the club’s major successes were in the area of Surf Boats. The club has achieved outstanding results in this area, making the Club the most successful in Victoria and one of the most successful in Australia, in the area of Surf Boats. Point Lonsdale was the first Victorian (and in fact the first club outside of NSW) to win a Senior Men’s Surf Boat title at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships. The first of three titles was won in the 1964 / 1965 season at Scaraborough, Western Australia. The second title was won at Dee Why, New South Wales in the 1974 / 1975 season. The record making third title was won in 1975 / 1976 at Clifton Beach in Tasmania. In recent times, the success has continued at the Australian Championships. At the 1997 / 1998 Australian Championships, the Point Lonsdale crew came third, in the Open Men’s Surf Boat race. At the 1994 / 1995 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, an Invitational Women’s Surf Boat race was conducted, which was won by Point Lonsdale. The following season, the race was cancelled due to unsafe conditions. In the 1996 / 1997 season, the Australian Titles were conducted at Kurrawa, Queensland. The Ladies crew won the first Senior Women’s Boat Race title, which is now an regular event at the national championships.

It is also worthy to note that in 1953, the Boat Crew made history by rowing from Williamstown to Point Lonsdale (with the assistance of relief crews). As well as these outstanding results at a National level, an impressive 25 Victorian titles have been won by various Surf Boat crews over the years.

The other major success area was that of the Ironman. Our most successful individual competitor and one of the most successful Victorian competitors has been Steve Mc Bean. Steve’s biggest achievement was that of coming second in the first Coolangatta Gold event, which propelled the Ironman event into the popular series that it is today. Other major achievements included reaching 2 Australian Title Finals, 8 Victorian Titles, reaching 9 Victorian Title Finals, Senior Club Champion for 6 seasons and Junior Club Champion for 2 seasons.

At the 2001 Australian IRB Championships conducted at Scarborough Western Australia the Club enjoyed success in two events and were placed 11th in Australia.

In the Surf Rescue Event, the team of Matt Culka, Chris Abbot and Alison Harrington were placed first. In the Rescue Tube Event, the team of Matt Culka, Rob Andronaco and Angela Collins were placed fifth..

Would you like more information about the history of the Club ? If so, there have been two publications produced about the Club's history. A hardcover book covers 1947 - 1987 and a soft cover booklet covers 1987 - 1997. Please contact the Club Office for more information on (03) 5258 1257.