‘This is our church’: Hundreds of Surf lifesavers Assemble to Pay tribute to Shooting The fallen.

Standing silently toward the surf on Bondi shoreline, arm in arm with close to a thousand other volunteers, Lockie Cook allowed himself to experience the pain of a local harrowing week in recent history.

“I feel like that guard’s just dropping,” he said.

Beach rescuers came together in large numbers on the weekend to participate in two moments of quiet reflection and honour those lost in the tragic shooting.

Infants, elders, locals and classmates dressed in red-and-yellow uniforms held each other, making a human chain stretching from the famous shoreline's north end to its south end.

“The most important aspect that’s come out of this is just how much this community means to me,” he expressed.

“This is our church … It is crucial we unite and truly recover.”

An Interval of Silent Reflection

At the appointed hour, the moment of quiet was called for by a figure at the beach’s main patrol tower, near which lie clusters of tributes.

“A short time can be a a lengthy period but please look within,” he advised.

“Link arms with the individual next to you, shut your eyes and remember the families affected so we can grow back stronger for this locality.”

Lifesavers gazed at the sand or to the distance as the community and its leaders observed. The only sounds were waves on the shore, a single barking dog and a whirring rescue helicopter, which circled along the shore as the quiet ended.

Reclaiming the Shore

Loved ones and colleagues slowly hugged one another and applaud their companions at the other side of the beach as acclamation erupted from the assembled community.

This was one more demonstration of the rescuers working to unite the beachgoers this week, noted one participant, a Jewish member of the north club and a first responder on the day of the attack.

“Today I just feel the love and support,” said the participant, who requested privacy.

Having lived at Bondi for most of his years, he joined the memorial paddle on Monday and has worked to reclaim the beach as his own.

“It was like reclaiming a space, it’s cathartic,” he added.

The Core Principle of Lifesaving

Gene Ross, a longtime lifesaving teacher, spent the moments’ silence next to his newly certified son, considering the solidarity his club had shown every day since Sunday.

“Carrying out the violence here … prompted Australia to rally behind the community.”

A great number of lifesavers laughed and cried together as they walked back toward their surf clubs and through the area where their colleagues performed rescues on Sunday.

A significant number lingered at the beach, prepared to assist people entering the water.

“We serve the entire community and that’s the ethos of beach rescue,” Ross affirmed.

“This is our purpose as rescuers: we run to the danger.”