Jan Juc surfer Tristan Forras has helped rescue a pair of swimmers at treacherous Cape Woolamai beach, while ironically participating in a water safety campaign.
Forras was one of a number of surfers participating in a Play It Safe by the Water campaign at the dangerous beach.
The #isurfwith Victorian Tour is a high performance surf coaching program focusing on equipping young male surfers in coastal areas of Victoria to act as ‘everyday lifesavers’.
One of the lead role models of the program, Forras said he was unsurprised to be involved in such an incident at Woolamai.
“This beach is incredibly dangerous, just because the sun was out and the surf wasn’t huge doesn’t make it safe for swimming,” he said.
Forras assisted Lilydale surfer Ken Rudan with the rescue of the pair who were part of a large tour group visiting the notorious open ocean beach.
They were dragged from the sand bar by a powerful rip and within moments were beyond their depth and panicking.
“I was down at Woolamai trying to catch a couple of quiet waves after work. I hadn’t been in the water for long before I heard screaming and went to help,” Mr Rudan said.
“The people in trouble were a couple, the girl was screaming ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die’ even when I had them afloat on my board.
“I was trying to keep them both calm. I let the rip take us back towards the breaking waves.
“We got a couple of big waves on the head and I focused on holding the wrists of the girl. She was the most at risk.
“Only three weeks ago I rescued another swimmer at this same location.”
The beach was not under patrol from lifesaving services at the time.
Surfing Victoria’s Cahill Bell-Warren, of Jan Juc, was preparing the #isurfwith program participants to head into the water when the situation unfolded.
“Ironically, these are the very incidents we are working with Play It Safe by the Water to empower these young kids to help avert,” Mr Bell-Warren said.
The program worked through early intervention to prevent people from swimming in dangerous areas while giving young surfers the skills and confidence to physically perform an in-water rescue, he said.
“Surfers play an essential role in the chain of water safety. This is another great example.
The Woolamai incident was just weeks after surfers led a mass rescue of seven people swimmers at the same location. Two later died in hospital.
