Obituary: Remembering Peter Swan

Acclaimed South African and international lifesaving legend Peter Swan died on 13 April in the Eastern Cape village of Cape St Francis.

He had strong ties with the North Coast.

His many accolades included the South Africa Lifesaving Association’s Instructor of the Year award, which he won many times for his contribution to training hundreds of lifesavers.

In 1979 he won the coveted Lifesaver of the Year Award, and in the same year received the State President’s Award for coaching. In 1980 he was awarded the coveted World Lifesaving Citation of Merit.

During the 1980s he was the first to teach and pass a team of black lifeguards from Hambanathi.

Born on a farm outside Mooi River, Swan attended school at Highbury and Michaelhouse in the Midlands, as well as Port Shepstone High.

He graduated with honours from the Police College in Durban and, after a few years overseas, returned to take up his lifesaving career as a lifeguard in Ramsgate.

He was a founder and then became a life member of the Surf Lifesaving Club, St Michaels-on Sea (Saints); a life member of the Durban Surf Lifesaving Club and the chief lifesaver in Umdloti.

When he retired in 2005, he was the beach manager for eThekwini’s northern beaches from Umhlanga up to the Tongaat River.

The highlight of Peter’s career was in 1977 when he was awarded a commendation for bravery in the surf for the major part he played in rescuing a number of fishermen whose boat had capsized in the shore break off Ski Boat Bay in Ramsgate.

His devotion to saving lives at the risk of his own was best summed up by Patrick Garratt in his book, “Crazy! Adventures of a Marine Biologist”.

In the chapter entitled “My rite of passage” he described the scene after the boat had capsized and how the boat, with the crew hanging on to the hull, was being pulled back inshore “into an area of deep gullies and steep, jagged rocks filled with broken churning waves. “The nightmare had just begun,” Garratt wrote.

“Peter Swan had seen the upturned boat from the lifesavers building and had come running, clad only in a Speedo, holding a torpedo buoy under his arm… The crew, exhausted and unable to hang on any longer, were scattered in the churning white water… Peter Swan was like a demented Klipspringer, rushing from one vantage point to another and launching himself into the churning sea at any sign of a survivor. Each time we wondered if we would see him again, let alone the people he was trying to save. None of us dared enter the water for fear of our lives – it would have been madness.

“Once in the water, Peter relied on the shouts and gesticulations of the crowd to home [sic] in on a crewman. Twice he was successful in making contact and twice he managed to hold on. Each time he timed the waves beautifully to thrust himself and his charges high up onto the rocks. Paying no attention to his bruised and lacerated body, he immediately applied CPR to each man in turn, pushing down fast and hard on their torsos and giving them mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, stopping briefly only to clear the vomit that erupted from their mouths. “Drowning is a terrible thing and we stood there shaking our heads in wonder as we saw each of them miraculously revived.”

“Peter ran like a man possessed to another gully where people were shouting… there were now only two people missing… We caught a glimpse of colour in the white water and before our shouts had left our throats Peter had again launched himself into the churning water, landing virtually on top of the spot. Diving deep into the gully he searched again for the body. He surfaced and dived again… His right hand bumped into what felt like an arm or a leg and his fingers closed around it like a vice. Thrashing his way to the surface he managed to take in some air before being submerged again… when next he surfaced, several willing hands held onto him and both men were pulled from the water.”

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