Born and bred in Byron Bay, President of the Brunswick Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), Craig Reid, has spent his entire life by the ocean and he couldn’t love it more.
As a keen surfer, he did his Bronze Medallion at Byron Bay Surf Club in 1983. ‘That was in the old surf club, not the one that’s built there now. I was a patrolling member at Byron for nine years.’
Reid left the area for four years, but was drawn back to his home shire – he joined the Brunswick SLSC and never left, almost literally.
El Presidente
It wasn’t long before he was ‘coaxed’ into being president, and since 2000, he has held the position unopposed. ‘I don’t know why that is, we have an election every year!’
Reid says there are always highlights to the work. ‘It’s had its challenges, but most of the time it’s very rewarding – watching the kids go from nippers to seniors and then into their adult life, and then bringing their kids back to the surf club just to learn surf skills’.
New surf club
‘The absolute highlight, the one goal that we’ve been aiming for, is the new surf club, which we have been working towards for over ten years.
‘From when we had the vision, to getting plans drawn up, to actually seeing it coming out of the ground right now, is amazing.’
Reid says definite low points are the tragedies that happen almost every year.
‘There’s always incidents where people have drowned – it’s not good to deal with that. ‘It’s better to be more proactive to stop that from happening, and engaging people, to show them about the rips and about ocean safety. There’s always a debriefing, and there’s a chaplain within the branch that we can access to discuss the incident – there’s also counselling. It might be something minor that someone needs to discuss that they haven’t dealt with or it could be something major.’
Reid, whose ‘day job’ is a refrigeration mechanic, says he’s lucky he owns his own business.
This allows him more flexibility when it comes to his volunteer work at the club, which sees him donating thousands of hours a year.
Busy through winter
Reid doesn’t see himself stepping down or slowing down anytime soon – even though it’s winter, and the rescue season is still months away, he’s spending his weekend at the club.
‘This weekend we’re training IRB drivers and crew members.
‘It’s a combined club event with Byron SLSC to be held in Brunswick Heads. Last weekend, we went down to Evans Head to do a training session with the boat.
‘A lot of the candidates haven’t driven a boat at Evans, or know its features. It was good to go to another beach location to experience the different water and the different river entrance.’
Behind every great president is a great committee
Reid says he’s lucky that he has always had great support from the committees he leads.
‘From the executive committee, as well as the members – there’s a lot of good people within the club.’
Are beachgoers getting better at being safe?
‘There are still a lot of people who just take risks – they don’t swim between the flags’.
‘That’s the safest place. If we can’t see the people, we can’t keep them safe.’
Why does he do it?
‘Why? Because I love it’. I’m an ocean person. I’ve been a surfboard rider since I was a child. I get a lot of satisfaction out of training the new generations.’
To get involved, or to donate to the new club, visit brunswickslsc.org.
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