At the age of 17, Claude Jeanneret was asked to join the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club following WWII because so many of its members had fought overseas and there was nobody left to patrol the beach.
Now 94 years old, he is still at the club most Saturdays.
Claude competing as a young surf lifesaver in the 1960s. (Supplied: Claude Jeanneret)
He was recruited from his Brisbane swimming club and remembers hitchhiking to the Gold Coast every weekend to volunteer.
"As long as you had your club blazer the motorists would always give you a lift," he said.
"I've still got the blazer at home and it's in mint condition."
He's got tales of shark attacks, rescues and was awarded an OAM for his service, but said his claim to fame was helping to bring mouth-to-mouth resuscitation into surf lifesaving in the early 1960s.
As one of the busiest beaches in Queensland, it's no surprise Surfers Paradise is one of the country's most storied surf clubs.
It's produced champion ironmen and women who are some of the sport's greatest athletes.
Loading...This year the club celebrates its 100th anniversary.
"I'm nearly as old as Surfers Paradise itself," Mr Jeanneret laughed.
"Surf lifesaving is the greatest social institution I have ever been associated with.
"In life, you have acquaintances, friends, and mates and everybody I know in surf lifesaving is a mate."
Claude (far left) with his clubmates in 1957. (Supplied: Claude Jeanneret)
Patrol season begins
Surf life saving remains the largest volunteer organisation in Australia.
This weekend thousands of clubbies dressed in their iconic red and yellow uniforms return to the beach for the start of the patrol season.
It's the beginning of a two-week school holiday blitz that will include helicopter, roving jetski, and drone patrols.
Surf Life Saving Australia's National Coastal Safety report released on Friday revealed 87 people drowned on Australian beaches last year — all of them outside the flags.
Volunteers at Broadbeach Surf Lifesaving Club on the Gold Coast are ready for the start of the patrol season this weekend. (ABC Gold Coast: Jess Lamb)
Life savers performed almost 9,000 rescues and patrolled beaches around the country for a total of 1.4 million hours, according to the report.
Surf Life Saving Queensland CEO Dave Whimpey said the latest drowning figures were alarming and unacceptable.
He was most worried by the dramatic increase in rescues and drownings more than 1 kilometre away from the flags.
"Because our beaches are becoming congested, people are travelling to get away from that congestion," Mr Whimpey said.
"That is something we are deeply concerned about."
Men under the age of 50 are over-represented in coastal drownings.
Gold Coast operations manager Nathan Fife says locals should set a good example for tourists at the beach. (ABC Gold Coast: Jess Lamb)
Gold Coast operations manager Nathan Fife said it was important for people to know their limits and urged locals at busy beaches to set a good example for tourists by swimming between the flags.
"We are encouraging people to just walk that extra 100 metres," he said.
"People are taking that risk and they think: 'She'll be right.'
"Unfortunately, she won't be right at 6 o'clock at night when there are no surf lifesavers and no emergency services there to save you."