Clifton’s New BeachSafe Tracker Proves Lifesaving Happens Everyday

Photo Credit: Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club via Facebook

If you thought a lifeguard’s job was only about the dramatic rescues? Think again. The Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club has come up with an impressive tracker that captures the most meaningful work done by these dedicated men and women daily.

Cape Town, South Africa (24 March 2026) – While rescues are often seen as the ultimate measure of success, the reality is that the most meaningful work done by lifeguards is often unseen.

But in efforts to give the public insight into how these brave men and women make a difference and curb potential emergencies every day, the Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club recently launched the BeachSafe Tracker – Africa’s first system to measure the real impact of lifeguards beyond rescues.

The tracker captures the moments that don’t necessarily make headlines or statistics, but make a difference between a safe day at the beach and a tragedy.

Patrol Captain, Paul Lassen, shared that the Club’s lifeguards have taken on this new initiative with appreciation, as it provides a way of measuring their impact on the safety of our beaches.

“As this initiative is currently in its infancy, we are manually tallying these preventative actions throughout the day and collating them at the end of our patrol shift. Ideally, we would like to digitalise this approach in the future and expand on what the most important actions to measure are.”

During its first trial month in February, Clifton lifeguards recorded 156 preventative actions. These included engaging with the public on safety briefings, explanations of patrol flags and signage, rip current warnings, alcohol-risk education, and hazard awareness guidance.

Lifeguards identified rip currents, monitored swell and tides, provided early intervention with swimmers showing risk signs, rock hazard control, and area closures.

Various behavioural interventions were also held, including supervision of at-risk swimmers and promoting child supervision, as well as environmental and general safety actions.

“When we started this initiative, we expected that the highest tally would be the lifeguards advising beachgoers not to swim in certain areas, not to jump off rocks, or to swim between the flags,” said Lassen.
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“Interestingly, it was the public education and engagement category that was most tallied, followed closely by behavioural interventions. This shows the huge effort our lifeguards put into not just conducting rescues, administering first aid, and preventing incidents, but also educating the public.”

The BeachSafe Tracker captures these critical preventative actions, helping the club track trends, identify opportunities for further education, and demonstrate the real value of volunteer patrols in keeping the public safe.

Inspired by volunteer patrol initiatives in Australia, Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club is leading the way in Africa with a structured, data-driven approach to preventative lifesaving measures.

As Lassen puts it:

“It’s not all just ‘Baywatch’.

“It comes with a lot of public engagement, education, and communication, all leading to incidents being prevented. It has also highlighted how crucial signage and flags are to drowning prevention. Training and public messaging can now be focused on areas that have the most impact in keeping people safe,” Lassen explained.

Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club plans to continue using the BeachSafe Tracker to report on its services, inform training, and enhance community engagement on beach safety. Because at its core, drowning prevention is about moments that never happen – and lives that quietly continue because someone was watching.