Bondi Rescue – Series 2, Episode 7

Clip 2: The aftermath

Taken from the TV program Bondi Rescue – Series 2, Episode 7 (2007)

Original title classification PG – this clip chosen to be PG

Curator’s clip description

Medical doctor Yondon Dungu had migrated to Australia with his wife and three children, and had been in Australia for just one week when he drowned at Bondi Beach. Left without a breadwinner, his wife and children returned to Mongolia after the tragedy. This was the first drowning at Bondi for four years and the lifeguards are terribly depressed after the event. They gather together in the tower to talk about things and help each other with their feelings.

Curator’s notes

Cory, the oldest of the group and one of those who has seen it all, talks to the others about the role of the lifeguard and how to help each other through this tragic event. Their easy camaraderie and mateship have a serious side when it comes to a moment like this, when they need to help each other through the slump. The ability to talk about how they feel is an important element in coming to terms with what has just happened, at odds with the traditional view of the bronzed Australian as the strong, silent type. Many of the lifeguards attended the funeral, which was appreciated by the family. Each lifeguard received a copy of a letter of thanks from by the family, and as they read it through, the program offers a moment for quiet reflection.

The whole tone of this episode reminds us that the surf can be dangerous and must be respected. The appeal that was set up to help the family allows the audience to feel that they can do something to help and as Tom says at the end of the program, maybe the family will be able to return to Australia some time in the future.

The second series of Bondi Rescue features the young trainee Blake from the western suburbs of Sydney and we’ve been following his progress as he develops into a useful member of the team. His maturity in dealing with the drowned man’s family is proof that he’ll be a valuable member of this fraternity of lifeguards. He experienced the family’s realisation that the husband and father was gone. He talks frankly and openly about the need to have the others around to help him over this terrible day.

Janet Bell, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This clip shows lifeguards at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach discussing their reactions after a man drowns at the beach. Scenes of the lifeguards coming off duty after the drowning are interspersed with interviews with three lifeguards. Blake McKeown, a young trainee, speaks of the personal impact of the tragedy; Andrew Reid (‘Reidy’) says that it is an unfortunate part of being a lifeguard; and at the end of the clip Tom Bunting gives some details of the drowned man’s recent arrival in Australia. The interviews are underscored by slow-beat surf music.

Educational value points

Lifesavers and lifeguards are iconic figures in Australian culture, believed to be ever-vigilant and invariably successful in protecting swimmers from the dangers of the surf, but in this clip the lifeguards at Bondi are shown in a sombre mood as they try to come to terms with a drowning they have failed to prevent. McKeown, the young trainee, summarises the situation – ‘No-one ever wants to finish a day at work knowing that someone died while they were on’.

As revealed by the comments of the three lifeguards interviewed, individuals deal with the death in different ways. While McKeown talks openly about his emotions, Reid speaks from experience when saying that McKeown now understands that lifeguarding is ‘not a walk in the park’. In another telling phrase, Bunting betrays his innermost feelings about losing sight of the drowning man when he says that death at Bondi can happen ‘in the blink of an eye’.

A number of production techniques used in reality television programs are exemplified in this clip. These include the interplay between actuality footage and interviews recorded after the event, the cuts from one interview to another to extend the narrative line, and the use of interview comments as voice-over for actuality footage. The slow-beat surf music serves to locate and intensify the sombre mood.

The lifeguards shown in the clip are one part of a long tradition of commitment to saving lives on Australian beaches that dates back to the early 1900s. At that time, public sea ‘bathing’ during daylight hours had recently become legal in New South Wales and the number of drownings rose dramatically. Groups of experienced swimmers decided they would form clubs to patrol popular beaches voluntarily and protect beachgoers.

The ‘lifeguard’ service on Bondi Beach is provided to users of the beach by the local municipal council and forms part of the range of services provided by third tier of government in Australia. Unlike the surf ‘lifesavers’ at many other beaches around Australia, these lifeguards are not volunteers but full-time professional employees of Waverley Council. A maximum of eight lifeguards is on duty at any one time.

This footage, taken from Episode 7 of Series 2, shows the tragic consequences of a person who is unable to swim but ventures into the surf. Most Australians learn to swim when young, usually as part of a school program, and although they may also get into difficulties at Bondi it is people from countries where swimming is relatively unusual who are most at risk as they often cannot swim, are unlikely to recognise the inherent dangers of the surf and may not understand the meaning of the flags.

The Australian surf can be deceptive with underwater rips posing potentially fatal risks to swimmers. Rips are narrow and sometimes very fast currents of water flowing seawards under an area of breaking surf. The best-known rip at Bondi is at the southern end of the beach, where this drowning occurred. According to the Bondi Rescue program, this and other rips at Bondi lead to about 2,500 rescues per year. About 85 per cent of those rescued are tourists and non-locals.

Production decisions about which participants to interview after the event are important in reality television and, as here, interviews are usually confined to those who were pivotal to the unfolding events. Reid was the first to see the man in trouble. Bunting was in the lifeguard tower and caught sight of the man before losing him while radioing for a jet ski. McKeown was the lifeguard approached by the victim’s family to report his disappearance.