History of the Club

The West Beach Surf Life Saving Club was formed in 1956 on 30th November 1955 with the first Patrol being undertaken in 1956. The clubs limited equipment was stored at Henley Sailing Club until the "Tin Shed' was constructed adjacent to the toilets to the north of the clubs present location. The club's first Bronze Squad of Barry Presgrave, David Presgrave, Reg Hartshorne, Frank Porter, Dennis Conlin and John Kamprod was instructed by Max Gamlin. This squad was truly unique with 3 members, Barry, Dennis and Max receiving the Order of Australia Medal for services to the community. The club quickly expanded with numerous Bronze squads and competition flourished and by the 58/59 season West Beach was 3rd at the State Championships.

The 60/61 season saw the West Beach 'A' Boat Crew represent the state and by 61/61 the club won our first Australian Title with 2 Members, Neil Prime and Geoff Ellis, tying for the Gold Medal.

In 62/63 the club won the State Championships, the clubrooms were commenced and West Beach members dominated the State Team.

The club remained at the forefront of competition for a number of years and continued to provide a valuable community service to the expanding suburbs of West Beach and the very popular West Beach Caravan Park.

The club's competition waned for a number of years until females were able to gain their bronze Medallion. This sparked a new impetus in the club with West Beach having an all female R & R team competing at the Aussies in 1984. Judy Veigh then went on to win the Miss Surf Life Saving Australia title in 1985. The girls of the club also gained 3 National Titles in 1988,89 and 90 with Amanda Bird and Cher Hutton winning the First Aid Competition. West Beach also trained the club and states first female IRB Drivers Crew.

West Beach has a proud history and is an active patrolling club. We are located due west of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, keeping watch over a 2 km stretch of coast from North Glenelg to the Torrens River Mouth. With the use of a patrol base in front of the clubrooms and roving patrols life savers can provide assistance to the public.

Although ensuring public safety along the beach is the clubs primary service, West Beach also competes at state and national levels. With competition being enjoyable and challenging, it provides surf lifesavers with essential training in lifesaving techniques and maintains necessary fitness levels.

We follow the Surf Life Saving of South Australia’s mission statement:

“Our mission is to save lives on beaches through education, prevention and rescue services.”

And we aim to achieve this through 'Our Vision' of working effectively with the community and Governments to provide safer beaches and aquatic environments for South Australia.

SLSSA remains the key agency for beach safety and a vital community service playing a fundamental role in building healthy communities in addressing community issues and government policies such as obesity, physical activity, youth development, safer communities, training and education, and family.

We at West Beach welcome new members and provide a fun, social environment whilst maintaining our growth and commitment for training and competition.