While Lower North Coast Surf Life Saving branch president Brian Wilcox says fairly benign surf conditions have contributed to a relatively safe summer on the region's beaches, he believes there's been another factor helping to keep swimmers safe.
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"The bushfires have made people much more aware of their own safety," he said.
"They have a greater awareness of their personal safety and the safety of their family and friends."
Mr Wilcox said this awareness had translated into more people swimming between the flags and not putting themselves at risk.
"It's quite noticeable people aren't going out of their depths," he said.
"They're doing everything they can to follow instructions and stay safe."
You can bang on about swimming between the flags for 20 years but it takes something like this to change it.
- Brian Wilcox
He believed this trend was the direct result of the exposure people had had to the constant bushfire safety messaging broadcast over the last six months.
"It was a coordinated push right across the board, backed by politicians," he said.
"The broad message was to listen to authorities."
Mr Wilcox said a lot of organisations would be looking at the effects of this messaging in the aftermath of the fires to see what could be learned.
"Higher up the tree, everybody - whether it's Police, Rural Fire Service, whoever it is - will be having a look at that messaging," he said.
"You can bang on about swimming between the flags for 20 years but it takes something like this to change it."
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But while Mr Wilcox admitted there were undoubtedly things to be learnt, he said Surf Life Saving Australia generally employed a coordinated approach with the Royal Life Saving Society Australia to prevent drownings, with education at the centre of their approach.
"Education really saves people," he said.
Despite Mr Wilcox's claim that it'd been a fairly safe summer on Mid Coast beaches, lifeguard supervisor Warren Keegan reported that professional lifeguards had performed 10 more rescues over the 2019/2020 holiday season than they performed in 2018/2019.
He largely attributed this to poor sand bank conditions and strong, short-period nor-east swells at a number of popular beaches, including One Mile Beach and Forster Main Beach.
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