Routine training day for Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club members turns into dramatic rescue of teenage girls

A routine training day for members of the Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club quickly became a rescue mission when a group of teenage girls were pulled out to sea by a rip. The presence of the off-duty lifeguards was a lucky coincidence that in all likelihood saved at least two young lives. The drama unfolded when three girls, two aged 13 and one aged 16, had been swimming in the shallows at Back Beach on Sunday, August 13, when rough conditions dragged them out further. After completing offseason jet ski training, surf club members were washing down their gear when a member of the public Felicity Ietto alerted them to the three girls’ plight. “I went to the beach and I was just looking at the surf, I saw these girls in the water and I heard them screaming,” Ms Ietto said. “I wasn’t too sure if they were having fun or trouble, then I saw one of them put their hands up and I just knew they were in trouble.” After seeing the lifeguards packing up, Ms Ietto alerted them and patrol captain Russell Jones grabbed a rescue board to shoot down to the beach, with the other members preparing rescue equipment. “We were doing some jet ski training and we had come up and were washing down the ski, probably not 10 minutes later Felicity came running up,” Mr Jones said. “Said three girls stuck in a rip straight down the front. . . so I grabbed a board.” When Mr Jones and life member Judy Heylen made it down, the 16-year-old had managed to make it to shore but the other two girls were still stuck 50-60m out and struggling. Two other life members Denver Rowcroft and Pete Saunders had brought down oxygen and the jet ski for Mr Jones to use, providing support from the shore. “I couldn’t pick the girls up on the first pass because big waves sort of coming through, washed her off her feet, but (I) came back around again and grabbed her,” Mr Jones said. “(I) momentarily lost sight of where the other girl was, she’d sort of been swept down towards south, but Pete, Denver and Judy were showing me which way to go, so I could scoop down there and pick her up.” When Mr Jones grabbed the second girl, his jet ski became clogged with seaweed and left them stuck. “With the ski you’ve just got to watch the weed, it starts to clog up the jet, so as I picked up the second girl I couldn’t go anywhere,” he said. “So I had to jump off, they asked where are you going to go, all wide eyes. . . I couldn’t just scoot straight back in.” The girls were brought back to the shore and were later taken to hospital to check for any sign of secondary drowning, but Mr Jones had checked in with them later and they were in a good state. While the situation turned out for the best, it was incredibly lucky the guards happened to be there, with Mr Jones saying: “If we weren’t there, they would have been gone.” “Because it’s off-season there is hardly anyone around, it was just incredibly luckily these guys were here training,” Ms Heylen added. Mr Saunders gave full credit to Mr Jones on the execution of the rescue. “The girls were very close to going down and not resurfacing, time was the important factor here and Russell performed an amazing rescue in very trying conditions in the process saving two young lives,” he said. The members of Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club want to encourage people to keep swimming in the ocean but also want them to have the knowledge of where it is safe to go in the surf. With summer coming up, registration day for the Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club is October 15, at the club’s base at Mahomets Beach.