Bronze Medallion - Swanny Surf Life Saving Club

The Bronze Medallion

All surf lifesavers in Western Australia complete their training through their local Surf Life Saving club for the Surf Life Saving Australia Bronze Medallion.

The Bronze course is usually run over a period of six to eight weeks, involving both theory and practical sessions conducted at the candidates local Surf Life Saving Club. The final assessment may take place at a centralised location in conjunction with other Surf Clubs.

Contact Dates:

Course #1: 11 October 2017 to 2 December 2017; or
Course #2: 7 February 2018 to 24 March 2018

Duration: Seven or Eight weeks. The February/March course in 2018 will be seven weeks due to
Easter being early that year. However, there will be a couple of additional training dates
during the course that are yet to be finalised.

Contact Hours:

Wednesday 6:30pm – 9:00pm (Swanny clubrooms)

Saturday: 9am – 12noon (Swanny beach)

Wednesday Evenings: Classroom based training. Meet at the main function room at Swanny. We’ll cover first aid, oxygen, radios etc.

Bring:

Your bronze manual (if you have already been given one)
Water/drinks/snacks
Pen
No wetsuit, sneakers, bathers etc required.
Wear comfy clothes!

Saturday mornings: Beach based training. Meet in front of the boatshed (note that the first session is at Claremont Pool).

These sessions are also great for kick-starting your Saturday! Bring your bathers and be ready to hit the water at 9.00am as these sessions are designed to get you comfortable with the practicalities of surf life saving patrols. We’ll cover rescues, carries and other fun things on the beach. Completing the run-swim-run a couple of times will help you with passing the wet exam. Again, we are here to help you and support you as required!

Bring:

Sunscreen, hat etc (‘slip, slop, slap’ stuff)
Rashie (or a wetsuit if its cold)
Bathers
Towel
Water

Other Training: We encourage bronzies to attend swim training and board training through the course, but this isn’t compulsory.

Prerequisites: A candidate must:

Be a financial member of Swanbourne Nedlands Surf Life Saving Club
Be a minimum of 15 years old on the date of assessment
Have completed a 400 metre swim in nine (9) minutes or less

Additional Information:

The course is heaps of fun with great trainers, and is an awesome way to meet people at the club.
You must pay your membership fee prior to the course commencing.
The 400m swim (in 9min or under) must be completed before (you can take part in any) surf
training
Sessions start at the times above please be on time
There is an online quiz; your trainers will provide more information during the course
The club has a heap of cool bathers, rashies and other stuff, check out our shop
If you have a medical or learning issue please let us know early, so we can help
Have fun!

What will I learn/do?

Basic surf life saving specific first aid
Patrolling techniques
Using oxygen equipment and defibrillators
Board and Rescue Tube Rescues
Spinal Management techniques
Get fit and meet great people
Train to complete a 200m sand run – 200m ocean swim – 200m sand run in less than 8 minutes

For further information or to sign-up for our next course contact our club administrator Fiona: Contact Us

FAQ

I'm not a very good swimmer. Does that matter?

This isn’t unusual and can often be the most daunting part of the bronze programme. We encourage bronzies to attend as many Monday night swim training sessions as they can to help improve their swimming skills. We’d also encourage people to attend swim training classes at a local pool should they wish to increase their swimming strength. We understand that not everyone is 100% fit commencing the course, but we’ll get you fit.

The ocean is scary, do I have to swim out there?

Yes! You wouldn’t be a very good surf life saver otherwise eh? During such ocean swims SNSLSC has ‘water safety’ personnel who observe the swimmers out on rescue boards. We can arrange for water safety personnel to follow you during your swim if that would make you feel more comfortable. There will be heaps of members on the beach and in the ocean on Sunday mornings, its likely that this will make you feel a bit safer. We will not send you out there on your own!

How flexible are the exam dates/times?

Not very. We can arrange for examinations to happen at other times but this often involves lots of phone calls and begging by Swanny people. On the rare occasion (and again, we don’t encourage it) that this happens for you, be sure to show your appreciation to those who organise it.

When does the next course start?

We usually run two courses per season. The first starting in October and the second in January. Check out the latest Bronze Medallion News at the bottom of this page for starting dates.

What happens if I miss a few sessions?

We get asked this all of the time! We encourage you to attend every bronze training session. Missing a session means missing material and your opportunity to be coached. Sure, you could attempt to have a friend of yours who is in the course try and help you catch-up, and we encourage this, but we like to keep an eye on you and coach you directly. We have been asked whether our trainers are available out of hours to help people catch-up and/or to help improve people’s skills. We are lucky enough to have passionate coaches who could be available to help you ‘out of hours’ if you need. Just remember that they are un-paid volunteers and generally are as time-poor as you are! Also remember that missing sessions disrupts the dynamics of the bronze team. If you miss any more than two sessions you will be required to contact the education manager/bronze officer to discuss your suitability for the course. Where possible, we will let you continue – however we need some commitment from you so that we can plan accordingly, and so we can ensure you know everything you need to pass the exam.

I’m going away for part of the course. Can I complete some of the course this round and some of the course in your next round?

Generally, no. This isn’t ideal for yourself or the club. Exceptions can be made, but only in certain circumstances. Leaving a course early or joining a course late can be disruptive to the other bronzies. We often find that a group of bronzies tend to stick together once the course is finished and splitting yourself up between two courses wouldn’t be great for this.

I have a senior first aid/CPR already – do I need to attend that session?

Yep. Rules change and SLSWA may have a slightly different way of doing things compared with that you’ve been taught in the past.

How do I sign-up?

Contact our club administrator Fiona: Contact Us

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Bronze Medallion News

2308, 2017

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New Bronze Medallion course
Bronze Medallion, Headline

New Bronze Medallion course

By Julian| 2017-08-31T09:51:13+00:00 August 23rd, 2017|Categories: Bronze Medallion, Headline|

Contact Dates for 2017/18: Course #1: 11 October 2017 to 2 December 2017; or Course #2: 7 February 2018 to 24 March 2018 Duration: Seven or Eight weeks. The February/March course in 2018 will be [...]