Here’s What Makes Water Safety So Important
Jumping into the ocean or a nice cool pool is the perfect way to cool off during the warm summer months, (or if you’re in the UK, the warm summer days!) Every summer our airwaves and newspaper columns are filled with tragic stories of drownings – whether at the beach or in pools – but deaths like this are often avoidable.
Celebrity speaker Bruce Hopkins first rose to prominence on the TV show Bondi Rescue, where he led a team of lifeguards on Australia’s famous Bondi Beach. His star has not waned since then; he’s become a major celebrity with invitations to red-carpet events and fashion shoots with Vogue Australia under his belt.
Like many celebrities, he’s used his high profile for a good cause, helping to promote safety around water whenever he is able. He’s fronted major campaigns aimed at reducing the number of deaths by drowning, a number which has been rising in recent years. Hopkins, or ‘Hoppo’ as he’s nicknamed in the TV show, is even the Vice-President of Surf Education International, an organisation working to promote water safety issues.
Although it’s a bigger problem in Australia than it is in the UK because the warmer climate makes cooling off in a body of water more appealing than it is in Britain, nonetheless water safety is an important topic that we need to discuss more in our schools and colleges. Every year several young people drown in accidents associated with swimming in the sea, swimming in quarries or reservoirs and even in pools without lifeguards. It’s a number that could easily be reduced by better education and information, both for young people and the adults responsible for them.
For instance, swimming in quarries can be particularly dangerous because of the way in which water can become suddenly very deep, and sides can be sheer and difficult to climb up. Water can also be extremely cold because of its depth and can conceal underwater dangers such as abandoned machinery and wrecked cars which people and their clothing can get caught on. Stagnant water can have more dangerous pollution and algae than running water or the ocean, and the isolated nature of quarries can mean that it’s difficult to get help if someone does get into trouble. In previous generations the dangers of swimming in disused quarries were well known, but young people today are often less aware and as a result, swimming accidents in quarries are on the rise.
Water safety ambassadorship is far from the only string to Hoppo’s bow – he’s also as you might expect a keen water-sportsman, competing regularly in the Ocean Paddler series of events and the Rottnest Island Swim. When he competes in sporting events he often takes the opportunity to raise money for charities and good causes – he’s basically just an all-around good guy.
While he’s an excellent person to speak to young people, parents and carers about the dangers of water and can offer many examples and cautionary tales, he’s also got lots to say to a wide range of audiences composed of all sorts of people. Bruce Hopkins is a born leader and led the team on Bondi Beach to complete some of the most daring rescues ever seen on TV.
This gives him a real authority when speaking on subjects such as teamwork and leadership, excellent topics for celebrity speakers you’re booking to speak to an audience of work colleagues or employees, or for a management seminar or conference. He’s an easy going and charismatic speaker who’s sure to win the affections of almost any audience as soon as he opens his mouth, and his practical, hands-on experience of leadership and teamwork makes him very relatable.
Top talent agency
If you’d like to book Bruce Hopkins or one of our other motivational speakers for an event that you’re planning, get in touch with MN2S talent agents.
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