Hundreds of thousands of Australians will take advantage of the scorching mid-summer heat today and flock to the beach.
But the annual beach pilgrimage each Australia Day comes at a cost.
Drownings spike on two public holidays each year – New Year’s Day and January 26.
Lifeguard and Bondi Rescue personality Bruce ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins told Today drownings are worse on Australia Day because of the huge crowds and tendency for weak swimmers to try to save others.
“Bondi will probably get up to 30,000 people. It’s a nice day, it’s about 27 degrees. It’s going to be plenty of people around and enjoying the water,” he said.
“Everyone needs to look at the signage, swim between the flags and make sure that they’ll be safe when they’re down the beach.”
Hopkins, an experienced Bondi lifeguard, said beachgoers trying to help someone struggling in the water were at a high risk of drowning themselves.
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“People try and swim to them as fast as they can so they’re exhausted when they get to the patient,” he said.
“The first thing I see people doing is they try and get to the person and then pull them back against the rip, and they’re fighting the water constantly.
“[They] get tired and that’s when people drown. So the big tip is just to do nothing and float and go with the flow of the water, and you’ll have a better chance of survival.”
