Iron Man Riddington wins Manly surf skills contract

Former champion ironman Craig Riddington will continue teaching his brand of surf-safety awareness at Manly Beach after making a successful bid to run the program for students.

Riddington's Surf Educate Australia (SEA) last week beat a bid from Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches to operate the program.

Manly Council decided in a confidential session to award its three-year tender, with an extra one-year option, for surf safety awareness classes to SEA, which has run the program at Manly since 1998.

SEA teaches students to float but not try to swim when caught in a rip, contrary to the official Surf Life Saving Australia position that swimmers should paddle parallel to the beach to escape dangerous currents.

Riddington told local newspaper The Manly Daily that SEA's submission was "pretty foolproof", adding "it had massive endorsement from a range of professionals and even letters of support from high-profile scientists."

Riddington said it was dangerous to teach children and weaker swimmers to swim in a rip when the vast majority of the currents dragged watergoers on to safe sandbanks.

Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches branch president Gordon Lang said there was little difference in the surf safety approaches of the two organisations, stating "the first thing we say is that you should always swim between the flags ... and the second is to try to stay calm."

A third tender from Andre Slade, the owner and operator of OceanFit, was given a positive council assessment.

3rd December 2010 - PRO LIFEGUARDS SAY SAFETY FIRST AT BEACHES THIS SUMMER

11th October 2010 - SURF DROWNINGS INCREASE DUE TO CHANGING AUSTRALIA

8th February 2010 - RIDDINGTON’S SWIM SAFETY LESSON

21st January 2010 - PROFESSIONAL LIFEGUARDS REJECT ‘FLAWED’ SLSA RIP CAMPAIGN