Follow the day to day life and work of lifeguards on Sydney's Bondi Beach.
It's the start of summer and the lifeguards are trying out for a job on the busiest beach in the world. Two and a half million people will visit Bondi over the next few months - up to 50,000 people on any one-day. The season gets off to a dramatic start as race riots on nearby Cronulla Beach threaten to spill over to Bondi. A shark scare only adds to the drama. For a while the beach is bizarrely quiet, then all hell breaks loose when nineteen year-old Natalie suddenly collapses in the water for no apparent reason. Her rescue and hospitalisation is a major incident on Bondi.(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
It's Christmas Day and the swell sends shivers up the back of the Lifeguards as they set up the beach in the morning. They know that tourists, alcohol and surf are a dangerous mix. With at least 10,000 overseas travellers due on the beach the Lifeguards expect to be flat out rescuing revellers who will have been drinking since mid-morning. Irish tourist Michelle is more than a little embarrassed when chief lifeguard Hoppo rescues her from the water. Meanwhile a teenager has broken his arm in the nearby skate ramp. Getting him out proves a difficult problem.(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
Few parties get bigger than the New Year�s Eve dance party at Bondi as over 5,000 revellers dance in the New Year until 6 am. The Lifeguards are flat out on New Years Day as they attend drug and alcohol affected partygoers on the beach. An ecstacy overdose and a surfer�s severely dislocated shoulder are among the most serious cases. To make matters worse Bondi experiences one of the hottest days on record as the thermometer hovers above 45 degrees and everyone wilts in the heat. A line of ambulances are called down to the beach. But the heat doesn�t stop the thieves?(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
Japanese language student Takahiro Ono is found lifeless in the water on a surprisingly calm day. With no breath and no pulse a frantic resuscitation effort begins as lifeguards come to his rescue. Finally a defibrillator shocks him back to life. Ten minutes after the incident Taka is fully conscious. But no one yet knows what caused the emergency in the first place. On Australia Day the crowds come to celebrate on the sand, but one group of revellers find themselves drifting towards New Zealand on blow-up animals. So many different languages abound on Bondi there are comic moments as the lifeguards and victims struggle to make themselves understood.(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
The lifeguards have an opportunity to show what they�re made of in the Lifeguard Challenge ? a mid-season competition to prove who�s the fittest and fastest among the elite watermen. Tensions run deep between old-hand Corey and young Turk Reidy as they go head-to-head in the water. Surprisingly, for such a handsome group of men, many of the lifeguards are single. They all decide to head off to a speed dating session to try their luck - with hilarious results. Meanwhile doctors discover that Takahiro Ono suffered a heart attack in the water and didn�t drown as some suspected. When lifeguards visit him in hospital he becomes very emotional.(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
There�s a big swell heading for Bondi and the fearsome rips will be working overtime. But what�s dangerous for mere mortals is a playground for the elite watermen as they take to the water on their rescue boards at the start of the day. A morning of fun turns out to be the busiest day of summer with thirty-five rescues conducted in a frantic five-minute period. If the big swell isn�t dangerous enough the wind has washed in thousands of bluebottles. The beaches are under attack as tourists scream in pain from the many stings. Then there are the perverts on the sand to contend with?(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
Bondi is a circus and some of the high-wire acts performed by the locals defy description. Two young boys are swept from treacherous "flat rock" leaving them with a bloody momento of scrapes and cuts on their backsides ? but while the fun�s gone out of the circus at least they�re still alive. Equally lucky is Erin, a female surfer who wipes-out on the sand and fears she�s broken her back. On the beach itself lost children and lost wedding rings occupy the lifeguards attention on one of the world�s busiest stretches of sand. Bondi life is indeed a circus.(Summary from Ten.com.au - Permission granted)
A shark found swimming in the kiddies pool is a dramatic start to the day as huge cyclonic swells from come marching in to Bondi from up north. While most people clear out of the water some of the lifeguards head in for a dramatic display of power surfing. Former world number six, Rod Kerr shows what he's made of as he carves up the massive waves. But lifeguards can't afford to get distracted for too long as a family gets swept out in a rip. It's all hands on deck as they go to the rescue. As the weather calms seagulls, mutton birds and dolphins abound as nature puts on a display at Bondi. With an office like this who would want to work anywhere else?
