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 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.

Course Dates:

Course #1: October – November 2023; or
Course #2: February – March 2024

Duration: Eight weeks

Course Hours:

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

Saturday: 8:00am – 11:00am (Swanny beach)

Wednesday Evenings: Classroom based training. Meet at the main function room at Swanny. We’ll cover first aid, CPR, 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)
  • Wetsuit
  • Bathers
  • Goggles
  • 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: Contact Us

FAQ

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.
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!
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.

We usually run two courses per season. The first starting in October and the second in early February. Contact our club administrator for course dates: Contact Us

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.
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.
Yep. Rules change and SLSWA may have a slightly different way of doing things compared with that you’ve been taught in the past.
Check out the latest membership fees at the bottom of this page.
Contact our club administrator: Contact Us