Saving Lives Beyond Bondi
The Bondi lifeguards have made an impact around the globe – and not just on screen
It was originally going to be a one-hour special, which turned into eight episodes. Now the 14th season of Bondi Rescue — which launched last Wednesday on Ten — is a gripping global phenomenon; viewers around the world lured in by the sun, the dangerous surf, the rips, the jagged rocks, Osher’s urgent narration, manly lifeguards with names ending in ‘o’ and the possibility of a shark attack (FYI, in 14 seasons there has never been one shark attack).
The simple reality show has not only created a loyal fan base but an international following too. Only last year, Conan O’Brien (US Talk Show host) brought his family to Bondi for the weekend. “I can’t swim to save my life but love to watch it,” O’Brien told The Project’s Waleed Aly, to the bemusement of regular Bondi Rescue host Bruce “Hoppo” Hopkins.
“It’s a huge show in America,” said Bondi local Hoppo. “We’ve had lifeguards and people from as far as Belgium and Norway ask us to do a meet-and-greet for the past eight months and for 78 years-old Bruce to be recognised is definitely part of that,” he laughed.
But for Hoppo it’s not the Logies, the star power or the world-wide recognition of which he is most proud, but rather the surf safety and knowledge they share with their audience.
“I always remember a Northern Territory mum who found her 10-year-old son watching the show. She found out he was fanatical of the show and had watched religiously. The main reason to her surprise was that he loves the show. He’s never in the water because there are no waves up there in the outback, but is around the world watching every episode, that’s a great achievement for all of us.”
Even this summer a British fan went to the Waverley Cemetery and happily asked to be buried near Hoppo if the show “should save his life a little” after a local beach in Hampshire.
This summer has been one of the most extreme yet. With scorching temperatures for weeks on end, large crowds and an influx of swimmers once the flags were down made for a busier and more brutal season than usual for our boys and girls in blue. Plus some of the saloon lifeguards have moved on, making way for an influx of new, energetic young lifeguards leaving a deficit of 50 years experience in senior lifeguards.
“During the Christmas to New Year period, we are called to two rescues every day. All of Christmas we had swell, we had rips and drownings even during the day,” Hoppo said.
-Jo Casamento, The Daily Telegraph
