‘Atlantic College was a life-changing experience’ 

Captain of the student rescue service at Atlantic College from 1971 to 1972, Dagfinn Paust recalls the teenagers who saved lives on a treacherous stretch of coast.

The old RNLI lifeboat station at the innovative Atlantic College in South Wales was run by a student crew for 50 years. Dagfinn Paust, a student at the college from 1970 to 1972, shares his memories of college life, about which he’s co-written a book with fellow ex-students Phil Green and Anne Perkins, called ‘Trained and Trusted – what teenagers can do if you let them.’

Dagfinn shares a rescue he’ll never forget, when he saved the life of a young boy cut off by the tide. It was a rescue conducted in darkness, in rough seas and when he was just 18 years old.