About uMhlanga Rocks SLC
The uMhlanga Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club has, since inception, served the local uMhlanga community and any tourists or visitors who might use the beach facility, by doing voluntary duties we are very proud of the fact that no drowning has occurred whilst they have been on duty.
Our Club has performed over 7000 rescues on uMhlanga Main Beach this being the second highest rescue rate in South Africa. The Club has 5 squads of 6 people and 15 reserves who perform lifesaving duties on a rotational basis during the year. The duty hours are from 8 am to 5 pm in summer and 9 am to 4 pm in winter.
The Lifesavers not only perform rescues of any members of the public who are in difficulty and need assistance whilst swimming but also perform first aid should they be injured while swimming or playing on the beach.
Our Lifesaving club is situated above a swimming area, and after hours (being the Municipal lifeguards hours of 6am till 6pm) we are often called upon to perform rescues of members of the public who are in distress and experiencing difficulties while swimming.
Active members currently run the club and all senior committee posts are held by active members who have come through the uMhlanga Nipper ranks, and have the clubs best interests at heart to carry it through to the future. We are a voluntary non-profit organization and rely solely on our yearly membership fees, member and community donations to sustain our high level of service to the community. These funds are used to maintain and provide lifesaving rescue and first aid equipment to our duty members. As mentioned earlier the club is involved in a number of community projects but the continuation of these projects is heavily based on the funding received.
About uMhlanga Rocks SLC
The uMhlanga Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club has, since inception, served the local uMhlanga community and any tourists or visitors who might use the beach facility, by doing voluntary duties we are very proud of the fact that no drowning has occurred whilst they have been on duty.
Our Club has performed over 7000 rescues on uMhlanga Main Beach this being the second highest rescue rate in South Africa. The Club has 5 squads of 6 people and 15 reserves who perform lifesaving duties on a rotational basis during the year. The duty hours are from 8 am to 5 pm in summer and 9 am to 4 pm in winter.
The Lifesavers not only perform rescues of any members of the public who are in difficulty and need assistance whilst swimming but also perform first aid should they be injured while swimming or playing on the beach.
Our Lifesaving club is situated above a swimming area, and after hours (being the Municipal lifeguards hours of 6am till 6pm) we are often called upon to perform rescues of members of the public who are in distress and experiencing difficulties while swimming.
Active members currently run the club and all senior committee posts are held by active members who have come through the uMhlanga Nipper ranks, and have the clubs best interests at heart to carry it through to the future. We are a voluntary non-profit organization and rely solely on our yearly membership fees, member and community donations to sustain our high level of service to the community. These funds are used to maintain and provide lifesaving rescue and first aid equipment to our duty members. As mentioned earlier the club is involved in a number of community projects but the continuation of these projects is heavily based on the funding received.
Lifeguards on Duty *
Summer 8am – 5pm
Winter 9am – 4pm
Become a Member
Find Us At
* The lifesaving duties and responsibilities for the club are only done on Sundays & Public Holidays.
Lifeguards on Duty *
Summer 8am – 5pm
Winter 9am – 4pm
* The lifesaving duties and responsibilities for the club are only done on Sundays & Public Holidays.
Become a Member
Find Us At
Achievements
URLSC prides itself in its competitive yet friendly approach to all Provincial, National and International championships. URSLC has a strong history of success dating back to the clubs inception with numerous Provincial & National Titles.
We embrace the HUBBA HUBBA spirit by ensuring we approach competition in a way that embodies a Competitive Drive, while ensuring we are focused on a higher purpose that’s in line with what GLOBAL LIFESAVING MOVEMENT stands for.
Our 3 main pillars has always, and will remain, FAMILY, COMMUNITY & THE ENVIRONMENT.
Some of our more notable recent achievements
- KZN Nipper Champions in 2014.
- KZN Senior Champions in 2008 to 2011
- Top 3 finishers in SA Nipper Champs since 2014.
- 11th in World Club Junior Champs in Adelaide in 2018.
- SA Junior Champions 1995 & 2019.
- Numerous KZN Provincial Caps in Nippers, Juniors & Seniors.
- Numerous SA Title holders in Nippers, Juniors & Seniors.
- Numerous World Club Title holders in Masters
- 1 x Great Britain National Team Representative
- 46 x South African National Team Representatives since 1981
- 3 x South African National Team Captains since 1981
- 5 x South African National Team Managers since 1981
- 4 x South African National Team Coaches since 1981
We hold fast to the LIFESAVING idea and principles of SERVICE & VIGILANCE while embracing the idea of challenging ourselves while promoting progress, development and service through all structures of OUR CLUB.
Competitions
Our active club members, being the Nippers, Juniors, Seniors and Masters, participate and compete in 3 Lifesaving Competitions that are held during the year, namely:
• KwaZulu Natal Series
• KwaZulu Natal Championships
• South African Championships
The competitions are held along the coast in KwaZulu Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. The competitions comprise a number of events and are usually held over 2 to 3 days. The lifesaving events are structured in a way which help, hone and heighten the competitor’s lifesaving skills.
Every 2 years there is an International World Lifesaving Club Championship that is held in various countries around the world.
What's on at Rox SLC?
The History of Rox SLC
Evidence exists which suggest that as early as 1927 there was voluntary lifesaving activity on the uMhlanga main beach. An independent report in the booklet published for the 1979 South African Nippers Surf Life Saving Championships held at uMhlanga beach and hosted by the URSLC, states “in 1927 a few of the local residents who were perturbed by the total lack of protection for bathers on the uMhlanga bathing beach called a meeting of interested parties and formed the first voluntary surf lifesaving club on the North Coast”. The uMhlanga Lifesaving Club has a photo album dated 1936/1937 of lifesavers training on the main beach with a club flag clearly displaying the letters URSLC.
In the early days the club was run fairly successfully on the lines of the Royal Lifesaving Society but was eventually disbanded at the outbreak of World War II. The original colours of the club prior to the war were red, white and black. The older existing club members seem to concur that the official start date of the present club was 1953. uMhlanga, in those days, was very sparsely populated but was recognised as a holiday resort with several large hotels. The only access road from Durban at that time was uMhlanga Rocks Drive through the sugar cane. While spending the day at uMhlanga Beach, David and Robynne Olufsen from Durban North witnessed a holiday maker getting into difficulties in the sea and David and a colleague were able to help the person to shore.
This incident acted as the catalyst for David and Robynne to approach the uMhlanga Health Committee. The Committee was not keen on the idea saying that several attempts had been made in the past to start a club but they had all fizzled out. The manager of the uMhlanga Rocks Hotel however, was keen to pursue the idea and managed to persuade the health committee to support the proposal. The new lifesaving club was born with green, yellow and white as the club colours. It wasn’t long before the Olufsen’s were joined by a group of young aspirant lifesavers who had been frequenting the Rocket Hut Beach, namely Mike Cameron, Dennis Everitt, Ronny Krishman, John Warlock, Derrick Clinton, Kenny Osborne, Errol Sounders and Graham Scott.
Graham Scott in fact joined the club after he was attacked by a shark while swimming off Rocket Hut Beach.
The first clubhouse was made of malthoid cladding on a timber frame built adjacent to Marina tea room which was previously situated on the current Cabanna Beach Hotel site. Towards the end of the 1950’s this clubhouse structure was replaced with a single timber frame masonite room just north of the Edge of the Sea Hotel grounds, in front of the then bathing beach between Small Reef and Black Rock.
The building was green in colour and its single room had to provide a craft store, DE beach hire store for surf-o-planes, deck chairs, umbrellas, a change room facility and a clubhouse for the URSLC!
In about 1961 an Annex was added to the north side of the hut. In 1964 the uMhlanga Rocks Town Board built a new beach facility building which consisted of male and female change rooms, ablutions, a look-out room and a one room club facility for the URSLC.
This single room was smaller than the previous masonite clubhouse that the club had to vacate and resulted in very cramped conditions – reportedly not a happy period in the club history.
In the mid 1970’s it became apparent that the ‘garage’ clubhouse behind the pro’s beach office had become cluttered with equipment, had little space for socialising and would not sustain the club in the medium to long term. It was clear that the facility had to be improved or preferably replaced. The club committee made a detailed submission to the uMhlanga Borough for a new clubhouse to be built.
Substantial negotiations took place with the key drivers being John Coyne and Derrick Clinton. John’s experience as a professional QS proved invaluable and in 1979 approval was given for a new club building to be erected on the present club site at Granny’s Pool. The new building lease was signed in 1981. The building design provided ample room downstairs for craft and equipment storage and an upstairs lounge and bar area.
