Posing for this photograph one day in the 1970s, the senior surf boat crew of the Caves Beach Surf Lifesaving Club were wearing their Speedo swimming briefs – a far cry from the heavy woollen bathers worn in earlier decades. Still, the club’s signature colours of maroon and white remained. They had much to celebrate […]
In late March 1947, a young Ken Ross (at the far left of this photograph) stood proud with his lifesaver mates in front of their winning surf boat. These were the Caves Beach boys who had taken out the Junior Surf Boat Championship at the recent Surf Lifesaving Australia Carnival at Bondi Beach. It was […]
As these men posed on Caves Beach, on the peninsula between Lake Macquarie and the Pacific Ocean, it’s tempting to imagine that the photographer might have yelled out a request such as, ‘C’mon boys, smile for the camera!’. The two jovial lifesavers at the left responded, but the three men on the right just squinted […]
The changing face of surf life saving is, in no small part, due to the ever-evolving inclusion of juniors. This pennant was won by the junior boat crew of Caves Beach Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) at a 1961 surf life saving carnival. This competition was held by their ‘sister club,’ Swansea-Belmont SLSC, with both […]
Ken Murray, the Sweep, stood well balanced at the stern, steering the boat, while his crewmates braced themselves as they battled the breakers, amid foaming surf and salty spray. The senior boat crew from Caves Beach Lifesaving Club were all smiles that day in 1961 when a photographer perched at the surf boat’s bow to […]
It was a windy day in mid-March 1960 and an enormous crowd of nearly 20,000 people lined the sand dunes at Merewether Beach to witness the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships. The Caves Beach junior surf boat crew had a strong reputation to uphold, since juniors from their club had taken out the championship several times […]
In the summer heat of 28 December 1929, one of the founding members of the newly established Caves Beach Surf Life Saving Club stepped into his stretchy woollen swimming costume. It was heavy, especially when wet, and slightly irritating against his skin, but he probably felt proud wearing it. That day, hundreds of spectators gathered […]
For many years, this shark bell was affixed to the shark tower on the top of the hill at the Swansea-Caves Beach Surf Life Saving Club (now known as Caves Beach SLSC). However, the task of reaching the bell to warn swimmers of shark sighting in the vicinity was no easy feat. The tower itself […]
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