Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Late last week Sideline Sid started to think ahead for his weekly blog and a chance meeting with one of his old mates, started a germ of an idea to write about some of the real characters that Sid has met in sport over the years.

Fast forward to Monday morning and it was with great sadness the Sideline Sid read on SunLive, of the passing of Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service legend Lou Jordain over the weekend. There were few bigger characters in surf lifesaving and the Western Bay community in the 1980's and 90's than Louis A Jordain.

A real estate agent by vocation, Lou was a past master at generating headlines and extracting large amounts of money for his beloved surf lifesaving. A newspaper story driven by Lou in 1984, showed his unique ability to grab the communities attention with bold statements.

The story stated 'One or two drownings would end the tourist trade (in Mount Maunganui) the President of the Surf Lifesaving Association of the Bay of Plenty, Mr Lou Jordain, said this week”. 'There is no doubt the local government has got to take a greater part in the protection of the beaches during the working day, if they expect to attract tourism in future he said”.

Lou's words, were part of a campaign to get the local authorities to pay for professional lifeguards on the Western Bay beaches during weekdays, when volunteer patrols were absent. Never afraid to voice his opinion to gain community support for surf lifesaving causes he was the master of emotive statements such as 'Tourism will flop as soon as the area becomes known as dangerous”.” If they succeed in getting more overseas tourism here, they are going to stare in disbelief when they are told that they have to be careful on the beach because there are no lifeguards”.

However Lou was much more than a surf lifesaving spokesman, who fronted each summer, to berate the local body politicians about the lack of funding for professional lifeguards. He joined the Freshwater SLS Club in New South Wales in Australia before arriving in Mount Maunganui and joining the Mount surf club in 1951.

Lou served on the Mount committee and received his surf instructor's certificate, before departing for an overseas sojourn in the mid 1960's - that lasted ten years. However it was on his return to the Mount in the 1970's that Lou and a few dedicated Mount clubbies, took the local club to the forefront of innovation in surf lifesaving in the country.

His passion for surf, saw Lou and a few of his contemporaries develop the first IRB (Inflatable Rescue Craft) rescue operations in the country. In the 1980's, Lou took a IRB team from the Mount Club to New South Wales and Queensland, to take the Aussies on at their own game. Success was rewarded by the meticulous planning of the Mounties, who swept the board at the prestigious Palm Beach (Queensland) International IRB Classic, winning the overall title.

Lou was the driving force behind the Mount Maunganui Surf Call-Out squad that was available 24/7 - years before the term became fashionable. The Mount call-out squad became the template for many similar rescue call-out units throughout the country. He also established the Bay of Plenty Professional Lifeguard Service, which today provides weekday patrols during the height of the summer season, when multitudes flock to Bay of Plenty beaches.

However fundraising was Lou's undoubted forte and he stepped into the hot seat, to raise the required funds to rebuild the Mount Surf Club, when the surf rescue headquarters were twice destroyed by fire in 1978 and 1981.

During the over fifty years that Lou was involved with surf lifesaving, he was recognised with a number of distinguished awards. In 1997 he was bestowed with the highest honour in Surf Lifesaving in New Zealand, being granted a SLS New Zealand Life Membership, to accompany his SLS Bay of Plenty and Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service life membership.

Rest in Peace Lou Jordain.