History & Life & Distinguished Service Members

How we began!

Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club Long Reef SLSC was founded in 1950 with 29 members and without a clubhouse Part of a bus shelter on Pittwater Road was leased from the then Dept of Road Transport and Tramways to act as a gear shed Current membership is over 750 ranging from nippers to retired founding members. As a number of founding members attended or had attended the Shore School in North Sydney the school colours navy blue and white were adopted as the club colours. Long Reef SLSC can proudly boast No Lives Lost during patrol hours. About Long Reef Beach Long Reef beach can be found on Sydneys Northern beaches. It is the northern half of the 1.8 km stretch of beach running from the base of Long Reef headland south to Dee Why Point. The beach is bracketed by an Aquatic Reserve golf course and a lagoon and wild life refuge. The beach faces the south east and picks up any east to south east swell. This makes it one of Sydneys higher energy beaches. The waves average 1.6 m being highest in the south and centre decreasing north of the Long Reef surf club owing to some protection from the outer reefs (bomboras). Between Long Reef Surf Club and Dee Why Point there are regularly 8 strong rips. The rips and their feeder currents usually detach the single sand bar from the beach. This can form a continuous trough of variable width and depth but with all currents heading for one of the rips. Long Reef is a relatively popular summer beach offering some protection from the summer nor Easters. In winter it is exposed and often blown out but very popular with windsurfers and kite surfers. 

During the August 1997  Committee meeting Scott Plunkett & Peter Clarke suggested the return of Long Reef nippers. Ruth Erby, Janse De Jonge (x) and Peter Selosse were the driving force realising that dream with 64 Nippers commencing that season. Since then the club has not looked back and nipper members and their families have become the driving force behind the clubs success. 


LONG REEF SLSC - LIFE MEMBERS

  • 1960 Rob Urquhart *
  • 1966 William Connolly *
  • 1971 Ross Tompson,
  • 1973 Alexander (Giff) Brown,
  • 1973 Jim (James) Hutchings,
  • 1982 Ross Matthews,
  • 1985 George Metcalfe,
  • 1989 Peter Clarke,
  • 1991 Ian Waterhouse,
  • 1995 Malcolm MacCormick,
  • 1997 Peter Kinsey,
  • 2002 Bruce Gaal,
  • 2004 Peter Selosse,
  • 2005 David MacIntosh,
  • 2007 Jim Selosse
  • 2007 Lex Brown,

LONG REEF SLSC- DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEMBERS

  • 2006 Lex Brown, 
  • 2006 Robert Galmes, 
  • 2006 Geoff Hayman, 
  • 2006 Leigh Johnson, 
  • 2006 Robert Murray, *
  • 2006 Kevin Palmisano, 
  • 2006 James Selosse, 
  • 2006 David Sams, 
  • 2006 Mary-Ann Selosse
  • 2007 Nigel Scozzi
  • 2008 Kristie Thomas
  • 2009 Douglas Lucas
* Deceased. 

SYDNEY NORTHERN BEACHES BRANCH - LIFE & DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEMBERSHIP

SURF LIFE SAVING NSW LIFE MEMBERSHIP


Long Reef members early 1950s