July, 2010

Royal Life Saving Society WA Launches 100 years History Book

On the 13th May 1909 a group of community minded men brought together by Sergeant John Smith, gathered to discuss water safety which lead to the establishing of the Royal Life Saving Society Western Australian branch. Over 100 years later the Society with the Honourable Colin Barnett officially launched and released their history book. Executive Director Alex McKenzie talked about the changes that have occurred since the start of the Society with the growth and development of the people and the state, describing how the society has had to develop to address the drowning death rates.

It was a class-divided society, with the gentry enjoying life in their riverside mansions and the poor getting by in small cottages with few amenities, Nevertheless, work was plentiful enough and people at all levels enjoyed their sport and other recreations, Gold, discovered in enormous quantities around Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in the 1890s, had transformed the poor, struggling colony into a rich state. It is curiously appropriate that it was activity in the goldfields which provided an important spur to the development of life saving in Western Australia. The drowning rate in Western Australia remained high in the first decade of the twentieth century, although circumstances were changing.

The RLSSA in Western Australia has changed from an amateur volunteer organisation to a professional, well managed business. But it retains the same ideals as when it began. The Society continues to ponder its own structure and philosophy and has not forgotten its roots as a volunteer organisation. It believes that people such as Mark Gubanyi, Colin Hassell, who initiated the Swim Across Australia, Greg McLennan, 2007 Sport Volunteer of the Year, and many others working at swimming pools around the state, help to keep its original objectives alive.

The number of people the RLSSWA has saved from drowning can never be calculated but if the drowning rate remained what it was in 1909 then approximately 300 people would have drowned in Western Australia in 2009 instead of the 29 unintentional drowning deaths which did occur. Inspector John Smith and the other dedicated people who contributed to the Society over the years would be immensely proud of what has been achieved. But despite its successes, the Society does not rest on its laurels and as it enters its second century it is continually looking for ways to improve. Everyone can be a lifesaver but the Society would be delighted if everyone indeed was a lifesaver.

 

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