Lifeguards reiterate need to swim between the flags

Sadly, since December 1 2022, 15 people have drowned in coastal waterways around Australia.

During the summer holiday period, five swimmers were pulled from McKenzie's Beach in the Eurobodalla, a man died after entering the water to save his son at Bogola Beach near Narooma and a man died trying to save his daughter at Back Beach near Forster. All these beaches were unpatrolled at the time of the incidents.

According to Surf Life Saving Australia, half of rip-related deaths occur during patrol season but at an unpatrolled beach.

There are roughly 900 beaches in NSW, of which just 129 are patrolled.

The NSW Far South Coast Surf Life Saving (FSCSLS) team covers an area of more than 180 beaches stretching from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border. They patrol 15 beaches along the coastline in summer.

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FSCSLS lifeguard coordinator Cheryl McCarthy said volunteer lifeguards did not have the resources nor volunteers to monitor every beach along the coast.

"In a perfect world, it would be great to enjoy every beach in a safe way," Ms McCarthy said.

"However, there's a limit to the resources available, and we are doing our absolute best as volunteer life savers."

The FSCSLS volunteer team commits roughly 20,000 volunteer hours every summer to patrolling the selected beaches.

Ms McCartney said this summer had seen an increase in people swimming at unpatrolled beaches.

"It is possibly a bit of a hangover from COVID," she said.

"We spent a couple of years saying 'stay away from people and find some space'. Maybe people are used to that and want to have their own little bit of space."

"Yet on our beaches, it just makes it so much harder to get to you quickly if you are at a remote beach."

Ms McCarthy said the messaging was the same as always: swim between the red and yellow flags.

"If we can see you, we can help you quickly," she said.

The FSCSLS team covers an area of more than 200 kilometres of coastline, including extremely remote areas.

"We have large distances down here on the far south coast, so when people do get into trouble it can take time to get help to you," Ms McCarthy said.

According to Surf Life Saving Australia, 59 per cent of rip-related deaths occur further than one kilometre from a Surf Life Saving service.

"When the campground is on the beach, it is really easy and convenient to step across the road and jump in the water, but if you aren't 100 per cent confident you know how to read the surf and identify rips and hazards, then you and your family are better off at a patrolled beach," Ms McCarthy said.

According to Surf Life Saving Australia, only one third of Australians are confident to identify a rip in the water from the shoreline.

They report there can be up to 17,000 rip currents at beaches around Australia on any given day, with the conditions able to change dramatically from day to day.

Ms McCarthy said many swimmers didn't appreciate just how quickly a situation could deteriorate at the beach.

"People think they can only get caught in a rip if they are swimming, but families can be taken out in a rip just from standing on the water's edge knee or waist deep," she said.

"Watching from 50 metres away is too far to help quickly if someone gets caught in a rip."

Ms McCarthy said if you were entering the water trying to rescue someone in the water or stuck in a rip, it was important to take a floatation device.

It could be a surfboard, inflatable device or anything else available.

"How quickly you can get into trouble or tire out often surprises people in the water," she said.

"A floatation device buys us some time to get our rescue craft to you."