Peter Allison, who is now in his 59th year as a surf life saver, has come away from the 2018 Queensland Masters Championships with three gold and two silver medals.
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Competing for Kurrawa SLSC in the 70+ age bracket on March 16–18, Peter came first in the 1km Beach Run, the Male Beach Flags and the Surf Board Rescue (with partner Jeff Gatenby).
He also took second place in the Male Beach Sprint and the Rescue Tube Race.
Peter joined the Bellinger Valley North Beach Surf Club in 1960, as soon as he turned 13.
North Beach was where his family went on holidays and his older brother was in the surf club.
“In those days you had to be 13 before you were allowed to join,” Peter says. “There were no Nippers and Mermaids then.”
“Five of us from my 6th class here at Bellingen primary joined together.”
He lives in Fernmount now, but over the decades, his membership has shifted among 10 surf clubs from the Mid North Coast down to Sydney and up into southern Queensland.
Initially this was due to his postings as a high school science teacher, and in later years because different clubs have invited him to join their beach relay teams.
He hasn’t missed a single season as a surf life saver, and has easily accumulated thousands of hours on patrol.
“The majority of my hours, going back nearly 60 years, would have been at North Beach in the early days, then at Tacking Point, and in recent years at Hungry Head.”
“Because I was club captain at Tacking Point, I found I was on patrol nearly every week, taking the place of someone who couldn’t make it.”
“In the early days with Bellinger Valley North Beach, we had a very small club so we were on patrol about every third week. For six months. And the patrols in those days went from 9am to 4.30pm.”
Peter is now 70, and says his recent haul of medals is his best yet.
“I’ve never won five medals at a state championship before. I have won three on occasions, but I’ve never won five.”
He’s in a new age bracket this year, but says that doesn’t make things any easier, it just refines the competition.
“You’re still competing against the same people because they’re ageing at the same rate. The weaker ones drop off and the more competitive ones are still out there trying to beat each other. So there’s great rivalry, but great camaraderie too.”