Red Bee Media.
OSHER GUNSBERG: On Bondi Rescue...
It's a mess!
..four friends in a mass rescue.
Thanks, mate. But one is missing.
WOMAN: Where's number four?
It's the worst-case scenario.
Has someone drowned?
Hidden danger between the flags.
LIFEGUARD: This guy was like a shark.
He pulled her pants down.
We're gonna catch a culprit.
And lifeguards grapple with a different kind of challenge.
Those things are the lowest invention on earth!
SONG: # Take me back to the
# Sweet times, the hot nights
# Everything is gonna be alright
# In the summertime
# Baby, in the summertime
# That is where I'll be. #
(RELAXED ROCK MUSIC)
Spreading the message of surf safety
has made Bondi's lifeguards household names around the world.
We meet a lot of people down here from all walks of life.
A young boy and his brother come up to the tower with his mum and dad
to say hello, so I go out to greet them.
Hey, buddy! How are ya?
All the way from Singapore,
meeting a lifeguard was at the top of this boy's bucket list.
He just gave me the biggest hug and started bawling his eyes out.
I didn't really know how to take it.
You don't get that very often,
and that was pretty special, knowing that,
you know, I'd made an impact on someone's life like that.
It kinda reminded me of when I was younger,
I'd always wanted to be a lifeguard.
When I was 12 years old,
we nearly missed our flight from L.A.
because we had to drive all the way to Santa Monica.
That's where they filmed 'Baywatch'.
I was obsessed with 'Baywatch' when I was younger, for the lifeguarding.
There was this one lifeguard who took the time
to show me through the truck and all that
and he gave me his lifeguard hat.
To this day, I've still got that lifeguard hat.
That made a good impression on me
and, you know, look where I am now.
I'm one of the lifeguards at the world's busiest beach.
And thanks to that little thing that he did,
I'll pass that on to other people.
I just thought, "I wanna make this kid's day."
He's come all the way from Singapore.
So I decided to do something really special.
MAN: Giving him the shirt off his back!
Yeah! Wow!
I took my shirt off and gave it to him.
Hug it out. Hug it out.
Hug it out! Yeah!
(LAUGHS)
Then the waterworks really came on.
Does this normally happen?
(LAUGHS)
Overwhelmed, eh?
'Cause that's something he'll keep forever
and he'll take back home with him.
Lovely to meet you guys, eh? Thanks for coming.
See ya. Bye-bye. See ya, buddy!
Definitely tugged on a few strings on my heart,
knowing that you have that reaction.
Pretty special.
Visitors come from all walks of life.
Today an Aussie icon has come to visit.
Hey, guys. (LAUGHS)
Michael Klim has won six Olympic medals for swimming,
including two gold.
And he's just conquering health at the moment.
Yeah, conquering CIDP, which is a...autoimmune disorder,
which is...yeah.
But I'm on the right track now, hopefully. (LAUGHS)
The legendary Australian swimmer has been an inspiration for many,
including one fan from the other side of the world.
I come from France.
I've been swimming from four, five years old
and started competition at six, seven.
I remember I had a poster just above my...
You know, on the roof of my bedroom.
Michael with Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe.
And that has been the poster I kept
probably all my 'teenagehood'.
I was down on the beach
and then I came up to the tower
and the first guy I saw on the top of the stairs was Michael Klim.
I recognised him straightaway.
Do you mind if we take a picture?
MICHAEL: Of course not. Yes. Yeah.
Yeah, it was definitely great meeting Michael.
Thank you very much. Thank you, mate. Thank you.
It's a good shot of him and his idol.
Yeah, I will keep it and maybe frame it
and send it to my parents.
Early afternoon on a falling tide.
An uneventful day for rescues -
so far.
But the rips at South End are beginning to pull.
Several swimmers are struggling.
There's one, two... There's, like, heaps.
I can just tell that they're not good swimmers.
I can tell that there's a strong rip there
and I can tell that they're more than likely gonna get in trouble.
(RADIO BEEPS)
Copy.
Three swimmers are caught in a rip
off the Icebergs pool.
A fourth is closer to shore.
Chappo sends reinforcements.
(RADIO BEEPS) Righto. On our way.
KC was already paddling out and I scanned out into the water
and I saw a number of heads in the water going under.
And that's when it started to get really real.
As Singlets heads in,
a volunteer lifesaver reaches one patient.
KC heads for a second patient
kept afloat by a swimmer.
Went to the worst patient, who was probably the furthest out.
He was pretty exhausted.
Pretty distressed.
Pretty worn out from fighting the rip.
Singlets heads for the volunteer lifesaver
who now has two on board.
An inflatable rescue boat, or IRB,
arrives to assist.
(LIFESAVER SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
I can offload my patient to the IRB
a lot quicker than what I can
paddling my patient back to the beach
and then paddling back out.
And at the same time, I can stay out there
and see all my patients as well.
As KC offloads one patient...
..Singlets struggles with his.
When I picked up my patient, he was so exhausted
that he couldn't even really hold on properly.
I'm wrestling with the patient trying to get him safe
on my board.
And a wave came and the whole scenario
started to get really scary really quickly.
Singlets grapples with his patient
as Wally heads for a fourth swimmer in trouble.
There was one guy close to shore that I was keeping an eye on
while all the commotion was going on out the back.
I went in and just made sure that patient got in pretty quick.
KC is now free to collect the last swimmer.
With the rip running hard,
he decides on a radical option to get his patient to safety.
Normally the rocks mean danger.
But today it's the safest option.
It saves a lot of time to offload my patient there.
And then I'm free again, so if another patient popped up,
I could go assist them instead of
trying to get that patient back to the beach.
All four rescue victims are Korean students.
The rescue may be over...
Yeah. Thank you.
..but the drama is not.
Were there three or four?
STUDENT: Four, four, four. Four.
Where's number four?
Four.
Someone says, "Where's the fourth patient?"
We're looking for a fourth.
The patients are saying, "Four. Four."
Where's number four?
And everyone's just looking around. We're starting to panic.
Only KC knows that his patient is safe and sound
and still walking back around the rocks.
It's the worst-case scenario.
There were four patients, now there are three on the beach.
Has someone drowned?
Lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers have just rescued
four Korean students.
KC lands one on a rock platform nearby.
His three friends are unaware
he's safe and sound.
Were there three or four? Four, four, four.
Four.
Where's number four?
There's a fourth patient and we only have three on the sand.
Four?
That is the worst scenario and it's really anxiety-inducing.
We've got a fourth one.
You are red-lining.
Where... Where's four?
(RELAXED MUSIC)
As KC cruises back to the beach,
his patient clambers back along the rocks.
Where were you sitting? Is he over where you were sitting?
What?
Where is your clothes, your belongings?
Oh. No, no clothes.
KC is blissfully unaware of the confusion
and Singlets's growing panic.
If he came into the beach,
would he go and sit somewhere or...
Have you got any belongings with you? Like...
The lifeguards think that he came in OK.
(RELAXED MUSIC)
(TENSE MUSIC) Water. Water.
Yeah, water. But he came out of the water.
Oh.
(RELAXED MUSIC)
Hey, hey. Where's your fourth friend?
The missing person at the end of that whole rescue
was probably the most stressful part.
OSHER: Finally, the penny drops.
I put him up on the rocks.
Hey? I put him up on the rocks.
Yeah.
(RADIO BEEPS)
There you go, you know?
And all of a sudden, this, like, anxiety spike comes down.
(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)
And the whole thing just went from being a 10 down to a 2.
OK.
Alright. Everyone's here?
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Relief. Relief came over all of us. It was huge.
We're good. We're good.
Singlets was a little bit worked up, I think,
'cause I didn't bring my patient back to the beach
and he didn't know that my patient was walking around.
(ALL SPEAK KOREAN)
That's it? That's everybody? ALL: Yeah.
All good. Thank you.
OK. Just sit down on the beach, have a rest, get your breath back.
And make sure you can... Just recover. Recover.
It's advice Singlets might wanna take himself.
Gnarly!
MAN: Are you guys OK? STUDENT:
What happened?
A lot of people you rescue laugh...
..laugh it off and go, "Oh, that was funny."
And we're like, "No, it's actually pretty serious."
They realise how serious it is. They realise, yeah.
Look at 'em. Like, they're... they're pretty rattled.
Oh!
(CHILL-OUT MUSIC)
Every year, millions come to experience
the simple joys of Bondi.
Lifeguards help protect beachgoers against rips.
But sometimes swimmers face other dangers,
even between the flags.
First report we got was
a couple of girls saying they felt uncomfortable.
Now, that sounds bad,
but unless it's actually a physical touch,
we can't do anything about it.
And then more people came up.
They said they got groped under the water.
So we knew we had a serious offender amongst the flags.
He, like, pulled her pants down.
Yeah, he grabbed, like, the side of my pants and pulled them down.
And then I was, like, "What the hell?" And he's like, "I'm sorry."
And then he, like...like, touched my bum and I was like, "What?"
The young women describe a man around 20,
wearing long black shorts with a white band.
I'm instantly on the binoculars trying to find him.
Scouring, scouring. Bang, there he is.
And then I'm watching him and I can see some girls ahead.
And I knew what was gonna happen before it happened.
I felt like yelling down the binoculars "Look behind you!"
Because this guy was like a shark.
And then sure enough, a wave broke.
He dived under the wave,
hands forward like Superman.
And then the wave finished
and the girl - "Ugh!" - like, just freaked out behind
and he just turned away.
And I was like, "Oh, my God. I just saw it."
And I had perfect visual on it.
I (BLEEP) saw that!
I can ID that, mate. 100%. She turned around straightaway.
We go to get out of the tower and you wouldn't believe it -
police officers walking along the promenade.
Perfect timing.
That's...this group.
And I saw that happen.
I saw him go under a wave,
dive towards her.
And then the wave came up.
She's turning around, he's just, like, sort of got his back to her.
100%.
He was like, "Oh, sorry. That was an accident.
"Wait, wait, wait. What's your name? How old are you?"
And he kept on saying all that stuff.
I can 100% see him.
I'd never seen it happen. I'd heard it 100 times as a complaint.
Very unusual to actually catch them in the act.
Let's go.
Bagus and Andy lead police to the alleged offender.
(RADIO BLEEPS) Yeah, I've got him.
I've got the guy in the black shorts.
Yeah, just off this southern flag, there's two girls.
They're just... They're following them across the bank.
So we've got multiple complaints.
I've seen him assault the woman.
And we've got police officers with it.
I think we're gonna catch a culprit.
I know we're gonna get this guy.
I just need to find him in the flags.
Get down to the shore...
But I can't find him.
Lifeguards help police confront a man accused of assaulting
teenage girls in the surf.
It's very unusual
to actually catch them in the act.
To actually see it go down, you know you've got the bastards.
(RADIO BEEPS)
I've got the guy in the black shorts.
Unaware he's being watched,
the alleged assaults continue.
I know we're gonna get this guy. We've got so much evidence.
We've got multiple women ID'ing the suspect
and we've got police officers behind me.
Everything should be fine, but I can't find him.
I wade out.
I'm literally in the water.
And I can't find him.
I'm just like, "No, don't...
"We can't...can't slip through now."
And then, boom. Eye contact. Yes!
I walk up to him and I say,
"Mate, you're gone. You're in a lot of trouble."
And he tried to apologise his way out of it.
I'm like, "Nah, nah. It's too late for that.
"Police officer on the shoreline there. You're done."
"We've seen everything, we've got multiple complaints.
"The cops are here. You're done."
ALLEGED OFFENDER:
Do you understand?
It's very hard to prove, but we've got the witnesses there, the girls,
plus Bagus and myself have seen it as well.
We knew that we'd caught the right person.
There was deadset, I reckon, 20 girls up on the promenade at the end
all sharing their stories.
To see it and then for it to proceed
into police actually arresting the man, it was perfect.
As my colleague has said, you are under arrest
for the allegation of indecent assault, OK?
So you'll be coming back to Waverley Police Station with us
to assist us with our inquiries, alright?
ALLEGED OFFENDER: OK.
HOPPO: It's very rare we get to witness something like that.
Something the lifeguards don't like and...always wanna catch 'em.
The man is facing five separate charges
and awaits his day in court.
(RELAXING MUSIC)
(KIDS LAUGH)
The beach has many joys.
Also, a few frustrations.
Red-hot sand.
Small disasters.
Sunburn.
Even escaping from the sun has its own complications.
Sun shelters.
Easy to put up...
..a nightmare to pack down.
OK, so here we have a common item
on any Australian beach in summer.
It's called a pop-up beach shelter.
And we like to refer to them as the Rubik's Cube,
because anyone that's dealt with one will know
that they are incredibly frustrating
to pop down and put away.
Here we go. Here we go.
So we're gonna challenge the other lifeguards
how long it takes to put one away.
Pressure's on. (LAUGHS)
He's fast!
Whoa! (LAUGHS)
That's tough.
Getting it away - that's the problem.
What's his technique like? What's his technique like?
Ugh... Oh, yeah! No, it's...
Yeah, yeah, yeah! (CACKLES)
Ooh, he's gonna wrestle it.
He's wrestling that thing like a crocodile.
Look at him go!
Oh, it's giving him some grief!
(LAUGHS) He looks like he's fighting it!
I reckon you might need to...
Oh, there's a bit of a battle on here.
No, they never pack away, do they?
That's a big unit to go in a small bag.
I know! (LAUGHS)
Nuh. There's no way that's going in that hole.
Doesn't look like it's completely...
Oh, I'm no good, eh?
Oh! Ugh!
That is way too big!
During lunch breaks, lifeguards set themselves
a perplexing challenge.
Who is fastest at packing away a sun shelter?
We like to refer to them as the Rubik's Cube,
because they are incredibly frustrating!
(LAUGHS)
How many lifeguards does it take to put a sun shelter away?
(BLEEP). (BUZZ!)
Are you tapping out? Yeah, I'm done.
He's tapping out! (LAUGHS) Alright.
Sun shelter 1, Matt Hastie 0.
(LAUGHS)
With bragging rights at stake,
Eddy steps up.
He's very aggressive.
Oh, my God!
He's getting a bit flustered now.
(BLEEP)! (BOTH LAUGH)
(LAUGHS EXHAUSTEDLY) (BUZZ!)
Flat, mate. Get it down.
Pressure can be Maxi's best motivator.
And...all the way. (DING!)
2:13.
Will claims to be a pro.
Oh, he's done this before!
There you go.
Yeah, he'll get... Look at 'em all!
Alright, I'm done. (DING!)
(LAUGHS) 50 seconds. That's pretty good.
I reckon he's got the time to beat right there.
Wait till Singlets has gotta do it. Oh! (LAUGHS)
(EXHALES STRONGLY)
Alright, I'm off to a bad start.
Twist it, he says.
No, no. No! (LAUGHS)
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! Sort of.
Almost!
Nah. Nah.
You're hot and...kids are yelling at you,
your parking meter's run out,
you can't get it back in the bag!
Can you believe this bloke?
So close but so far. (DING!)
It's a bit messy inside the bag as well.
68 seconds, Singlets.
Pretty good.
Oh, Will smashed it!
I've done alright. Surprised myself. You're the time to beat.
Chase wants to show what young, nimble hands can do.
Oh! Yes!
Yes!
It's following you around, mate. It's unfolding!
Is that it? No, mate.
That's as ugly as they come, mate.
(LAUGHS)
I love it!
(SINGLETS CONTINUES LAUGHING)
Oh, I love it! (LAUGHS)
I give up. This is rubbish. (BUZZ!)
Those things are the lowest invention on earth.
I will be happy if I never see one of those again.
Next time... Oh, he's blowing up!
..Harries lays down the law.
Dealing with this bodysurfer is like a challenge for me now.
Ahh!
And a mysterious medical episode.
It looked like he was breaking his own thumbs.
Ambo is on the way.
Yeah, mate. Quicker the better.