Life membership of Surf Life Saving Association of Wales for UWC Atlantic

UWC Atlantic has been awarded Lifetime Membership of the Surf Life Saving Association of Wales, recognising over six decades of outstanding contribution to lifesaving in Wales and across Great Britain.

Since opening at St Donat's Castle in 1962, the College has been at the forefront of rescue innovation and coastal safety. Most notably, when founding Headmaster Admiral Desmond Hoare worked alongside students to develop the Atlantic 21,  a revolutionary rigid-hulled inflatable boat whose patent was sold to the RNLI for just £1. This boat remains the standard design for Inshore Lifeboat at stations around the United Kingdom to this day.

The College's students have always led from the front: in 1964 they became the youngest crew members in RNLI history when the College took responsibility for the coastline between Barry and Porthcawl and in 1968 the College registered the first female crew member in the RNLI's history.

UWC Atlantic was equally instrumental in establishing organised surf lifesaving across Wales. The College Surf Lifesaving Unit, founded in 1963 as St Donat's SLSC, became the Atlantic College Beach Rescue Unit in 1966. Through its Extramural Department,  later to become the National Coastal Rescue Training Centre (NCRTC) at Aberavon,  the College helped establish clubs at Llantwit Major, Ogmore-by-Sea, Barry, Aberdare and beyond, laying the foundations for what would become SLSA Wales. The crucial founding meeting of what would become the Surf Life Saving Association of Wales took place in the Science Lecture Theatre at Atlantic College in spring 1968, with John David elected as its first Chairman. It was a moment that formally established Wales as a force in surf lifesaving and Atlantic College was at its heart.

That tradition of service is very much alive today at the College today with current students actively involved with life-saving and boat design.