Aussies train up Greek lifesavers

Greece is renowned for its gorgeous beaches; with a coastline that captures the heart and soul of everyone who embraces its shore, and islands surrounded by the turquoise of the Mediterranean sea, it's hard to imagine that these beaches - that are frequented by hoards of visitors each year - are barely manned by lifesavers. There are over 800 beaches in Greece; only 500 are manned. And it was this shocking statistic that saw Gold Coast surf lifesaver Speros Roussetos do something about it.

In 2004, Mr Roussetos was invited to the Hellenic Republic to show Greek lifesavers the methods used in Australia. While there, he saw the reality of the situation of the lifesavers in Greece. He explained that in Greece, there is only one lifesaver monitoring the beach that can have up two- to three-thousand people on it, so the element of disaster is quite high. He also said in Greece, the lifesavers lacked resources that Australian lifesavers have at their disposal like helicopters, jet skis, rubber ducks and boards.

"All they have is a tube to do the rescue and bring that person in. They have no communications or radios - everything is done from phone and they hope for the best," Mr Roussetos told Neos Kosmos.
Mr Roussetos decided to create an exchange program that will enable lifesavers from Greece travel to Australia and train with Australian surf lifesavers, then take those skills back with them to educate people on how to behave on the beach.
Six Greek lifesavers - five men and one female - travelled to Australia last month to receive their Bronze Medallion in surf lifesaving. They will take the skills they learnt in Australia and education and try to change the beach culture in Greece.
But with the current crisis in Greece, the six Greek lifesavers needed assistance in getting to Australia. Mr Roussetos called on the Greek Community of the Gold Coast to help out and "everyone willingly put up their hand".

Father Romans Stergiou of Saint Anna Gold Coast, and President of the Gold Coast Greek Community, Arthur Papanikolaou, supported the visiting lifesavers by finding free accommodation and host families to home them during their stay.
The Greek lifesavers went through a three-week intensive surf lifesaving training in Australia, giving them additional skills and techniques to what they are used to in Hellenic waters.

The lifesavers were faced with many challenges.
"In Greece they have calm water so they don't have the challenges like we have - the rips, the surf, the potholes, the waves, the understanding of beaches," explained Mr Roussetos.
He said that one of their challenges was learning how to control a rescue board, while a Greek lifesaver told Neos Kosmos they were more afraid of coming up against sharks than anything the water could bring them.

The six lifesavers received their Bronze Medallions at a special reception put on by the Greek Apollo Soccer Club in the Gold Coast with Jim Raptis - the consul-general of Greece in Queensland and his wife, Helen Raptis, congratulating the lifesavers for their efforts on the night.
In Greece, an average of 300 people die a year from drowning whereas in Australia an average of 60 people die a year in Australian waters, and a zero death tally for between the flags in Australia.

In Australia, the beach goers are educated of the dangers of not swimming between the red and yellow lifesaving flags whereas in Greece, the lifesavers said that no one follows their advice. That is why they want to take the Australian beach culture and inform and educate Greek swimmers of all the dangers of the sea. And to also encourage Greeks to become surf lifesaving volunteers to help out with the shortage of manned beaches. In Australia, there are over 160,000 volunteer surf lifesavers assisting the accidents that occur on the beaches and also providing an assistance to the qualified lifesavers.