North Berwick RNLI crew member saves three whilst surfing

A powerful swell had been hitting the coast of East Lothian causing several incidents over the weekend. Hoping to catch the residual waves before the swell died away Stefan, an RNLI volunteer of 15 years, headed to Seacliff beach, 3 miles to the east of North Berwick.

The surf was still powerful and ramping up to 2m in the impact zone, whilst some areas of the beach, closer to shore were experiencing dumping waves due to the gradient of the beach.

Stefan said ‘I wasn’t expecting the waves to be so good, and being a Monday I had a good section of the beach to myself other than family groups swimming and bodyboarding.’

‘I noticed a couple of heads in the rip current towards the Gegan, at the harbour end of the bay. It looked to be two children from a distance, but I could see that they were struggling against the current.’

Stefan is also a member of North Berwick Surf Life Saving Club and holds several life saving qualifications from Surf Life Saving Great Britain. Seeing the casualties were in difficulty he knew he had to get to them quickly.

Stefan continued: ‘By the time I got to the two boys, they were about 100m off the beach and right next to some dangerous rocks. If a big set had come through, we’d have been washed against the rocks.’

‘I got the boys to hang onto my board whilst I tried to get the attention of others on the beach. The Dad seeing his kids in trouble ran into the water but wasn’t a strong swimmer so was soon in trouble too. Thankfully the rip current delivered him to me, but I was struggling to manage the three of them on my surfboard.’

Stefan tried to calm them down and started to formulate a plan to get them all back to the beach when another surfer came over and was able to help. Together they shuttled the casualties back to the beach, the other surfer taking the children, one at a time, and Stefan bringing the Dad back to dry land.

Stefan said: ‘The family were shocked and didn’t know anything about rip currents. The RNLI’s float to live campaign exists for situations like this. When you get caught in a rip your first instinct is to swim against it, which very quickly exhausts you and leads to panic.’

‘Instead of fighting it, you should try to stay calm by floating on your back with your ears submerged. Once you’ve identified which way the current is pulling you, you should swim sideways out of the current, where you’ll most likely be washed ashore.’

‘I don’t think the boys were even swimming, just paddling when a big wave knocked them of their feet and into the water. There was a point in the rescue where I thought we were all going to get slammed against the rocks and I was really hoping the lifeboat was on its way. Thankfully everyone was okay, but it could easily have been very different.’

‘Unfortunately, in East Lothian we don’t have any lifeguarded beaches, that means you must take extra care and educate yourself before you head to the beach. The RNLI’s website has lots of good safety information for different activities, or you could join a local Surf Life Saving Club; Dunbar, North Berwick or Portobello.’

‘In any coastal emergency you should call 999 and ask for the coastguard at the earliest opportunity, they’ll send the correct rescue teams to help.’

The RNLI’s website has activity specific safety advice including advice about Rip Currents.

Notes to editors

• The RNLI operate a lifeguard service, 10am-6pm, on the following Scottish beaches: Silver Sands, Aberdour (Fife) Burntisland (Fife), Elie Harbour (Fife), Leven (Fife), St. Andrews East Sands (Fife), St. Andrews West (Fife), Broughty Ferry (Dundee), and Coldingham Bay (Scottish Borders). Season dates vary details here.

• In 2025 the RNLI spent £196.9M delivering its lifesaving service.

• Across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, RNLI lifeboat crews based out of 238 lifeboat stations helped 8,290 people and saved 272 lives as the charity’s lifeboats launched more than 9,000 times in 2025, making it the sixth-busiest year in the charity’s history. More here