We pay tribute to our past management members
Gordon Smart
Gordon joined Coastal Water Rescue back when it was first founded as Surf Rescue. As a Sea Rescue Member at Surf Rescue and then Coastal Water Rescue, Gordon spent many years contributing his swimming and life-saving skills to our rescues. Gordon was also a SA Police Reservist, which helped in giving us a good relationship with the Metro’s police so that we could respond to an emergency quicker.
Gordon’s highlights of being at Coastal Water Rescue are saving lives, particularly those of children, and saving and assisting people in flooded areas. Another highlight of his was being involved in helping people at the rescue of the Blackwater Tubing disaster at Storms River in 2000.
Today, Gordon owns Gordon Smart Properties and still remains a Police Reservist. He believes that with adequate funding, Coastal Water Rescue will continue to grow and be a great service to the Metro.
Kim Barley
Kim brought his paramedic skills to Coastal Water Rescue in 2008 and took the position of Medical Officer. A year later, he was promoted to Assistant Coordinator. For three years, from 2011 – 2013, Kim held the Full Coordinator position – making sure the rescues and everything in the squad ran smoothly. In 2014, he handed over the reins to Wayne.
Kim says that saving lives is by far the best reward and highlight of being at Coastal Water Rescue. This is what keeps on motivating him to do more rescues. His other highlight is being involved in the community and being able to help the people in our community who are in water-related emergencies. He believes that the squad and the organisation has grown over the years and that Surf Rescue being rebranded to become Coastal Water Rescue made it clearer to the public that we don’t only do sea rescues.
Today, Kim is still a Medical Officer at Coastal Water Rescue and continues to lend his skills to our squad on rescues.
2016 Update: Kim has decided to rejoin the squad as an active members, and was voted onto the management committee during our AGM which was held on 13 Aug 2016.
Steven O’Reilly
Steven joined the Coastal Water Rescue squad in 2009. As a SA Police Reservist, he brought with him his policing knowledge and medical BAA (Basic Ambulance Assistance) qualification; which resulted in him contributing a great load to our rescues.
Steven says it was an honour being a part of the squad and his biggest highlight was the look of relief on people’s faces when they saw that help had arrived. As a Police Reservist, he didn’t like feeling helpless when arriving at a drowning incident. This is what encouraged and motivated him to join Coastal Water Rescue, so that he could actively take part and do his part in the rescues.
Seeing how Coastal Water Rescue continues to grow, Steven is happy to see that there is a young group of CWR members. He advises volunteers and people interested in volunteering that if they put in hard work, dedication and can work in a team, they will get everything out that they put in.
Steven left Coastal Water Rescue in 2014 when he immigrated to Australia and says that had he not immigrated, he would still have been a part of the squad.
John Fletcher
John joined Coastal Water Rescue as a Sea Rescue Member in 2006 at the age of 18. He was a lifeguard from the age of 14 and had a passion for the water and saving lives, which brought him to us when he wanted to take his life-saving up a level. His years of experience as a lifeguard contributed a lot to our rescues. John also joined the SA Police Reserve in 2006.
John’s CWR highlights from his years here include saving lives and making a difference to the community – even if it was something as simple as helping people to get onto dry land safely in a flooding incident. He also notes that the fact that rescuers are better equipped than before and therefore, safer, was also a highlight for him.
John left Coastal Water Rescue in 2014 and currently owns a construction company called Fletcher Construction in Port Elizabeth. John describes his experience with us as very rewarding and he advises current and prospective volunteers to remember to give it 100% to reap the rewards.
