Ballina Shire lifeguard, Lily Murphy has been crowned the 2024 Lifeguard of the Year at the SLSNSW Awards of Excellence in Sydney on Saturday 24 August.
Lily is an outstanding lifeguard from the Australian Lifeguard Service (ALS) who thrived on the beach this past season. She has sound understanding of the importance of being proactive, from a physical preparation and training space but also mental wellbeing space; encouraging her colleagues to lean on and learn from one another to be the best lifeguards possible.
With the skills and knowledge gained as a lifeguard, Lily stepped up and excelled. Having gained great respect from her colleagues over the many years working with them, she continues to lead by example and provide a professional service on the beach.
“I grew up in Nippers and going through the surf club and the skills I learnt there, it just made sense to turn that into a career,”
“Being able to interact with the community in such a big way, we’re there seven days a week, it’s an incredible experience.
“Sometimes it can be tricky, we have people coming from not just over Australia but all over the world, so managing a beach with so many nationalities can be hard but it’s such a rewarding experience as well.”
ALS Manager, Chris O’Rorke said Lily represented everything the ALS is about.
“We’re very proud to have lifeguards like Lily among our workforce of more than 450 across the state,” he said.
“Every year we have a very strong crop of finalists from each of the council regions we service and it’s a bit of a cliché, but it really rings true that anyone could have won it this year.
“For Lily to have been recognised from such a great group is testament to the effort she puts in on the beach and is exactly what we’re looking for in a lifeguard – someone who is focussed on public safety and improving experiences for beachgoers.”
Wednesday 28 August 2024