Over 100 members and their families, along with Bega Valley Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick and his wife Kerryann, came together to share in the club's successes at the recent presentation night.

President Euan McKenzie said everyone had a "fantastic night", reconnecting together as one big group.

"We had everybody there, from the youngest Nippers who are six years old, through to our life members it was just brilliant," Mr McKenzie said.

Club person of the year

Mr McKenzie said he took the opportunity to recognise long-time member and dedicated president of five years, Bruce McAslan.

"While Bruce was president he would have never put himself up for the award so I thought now that I'm president it was his turn to be recognised," Mr McKenzie said.

Mr McKenzie said Bruce was thoroughly involved with the club acting as the patrol captain, the branch duty officer, state welfare officer, vice-president and chief instructor at the Bermagui club.

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"He trains all of us and his role as deputy president is quite critical to me as he mentors me in my role as president, something he will do for a number of years because he wasn't willing to just throw me into it," he said.

Bruce said he hadn't been expecting the award at all and was " totally humbled by the whole thing."

Lifesaver of the year

Mr Mckenzie said he chose to award the lifesaver of the year to David Alderman for his enthusiasm and willingness to always give a hand whenever it was needed.

"David got his bronze medallion and has been heavily involved in the rescue boats.

"He was always there, sometimes you needed somebody to clean the windows before a wedding or something like that and he would just say 'yeah, I'll go do that'," Mr McKenzie said.

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Mr McKenzie said it was "quite unusual" for a first year member to win the award, however he felt David deserved it for his spirit and enthusiasm to getting things done.

Cadet club person of the year

The cadet club person of the year was awarded to Rachel Huxley, who had been with the club since 2016 and recently completed her bronze medallion.

"She took a very deep interest in the inflatable rescue boats and got her crew certification along with the simple stuff like sweeping the floors, helping tidying up and often being the first to arrive and last to leave," Mr McKenzie said.

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Rachel said she had always enjoyed coming down from Canberra to take part in the surf life saving club at Bermagui, which she and her family have been involved with since she was a little girl.

"I was very humbled by the award, when I do things around the club, I don't do them to win awards or anything, it's just the joy of helping out and being part of the club," she said.

Junior Club Person of the year

The junior club person award is given out to a standout Nipper, aged up to 12 years old.

Maxim Savchenko-Ray was the lucky recipient, chosen for his "great attitude and super enthusiasm."

Mr McKenzie described Maxim as a great team player which would often be seen encouraging his peers.

"The story about Maxim that is indicative of his attitude is when we did the 250 metre swim at Horseshoe Bay," he said.

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"Maxim was there encouraging the kids and when we had 100 metres to go I noticed he had a crochet of bluebottle tentacles all over his right arm."

Mr McKenzie said he had gone over to help Maxim and could tell he was in pain and offered to put him on a board to bring him back to the beach, but Maxim carried on.

"There was no drama, he just got some hot water on it to make the pain go away and he re-joined the others and that's indicative of who he is," he said.

Winner of the Maggi Shield

Mr McKenzie said the Maggi Shield award was donated by one of their long standing supporters and Bermagui local Maggi.

"She wanted to donate a trophy that would be given to a young Nipper who might not be the best or the fastest, but tries really hard. So it's a very sought after shield," he said.

Mr McKenzie said the chosen recipient for the trophy was Ruby Ryding who had come "ahead in leaps and bounds".

Rescue of the year

Mr McKenzie said he believed the rescue of the year award recipient, Lucy Livingston, marked the first time a Nipper had received the award.

Lucy was chosen as the recipient for her quick wit thinking and bravery in conducting a rescue while not on patrol.

"She was at the beach over the school holidays and she saw a child in distress and a very panicky mother on the side," Mr McKenzie said.

"Lucy just said, 'I'm a surf lifesaver, I can do this'. So she ran up, jumped in from the rocks so that she could gain some ground on on the kid that was getting swept out to sea and assisted this child ashore."

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Mr McKenzie said there hadn't been any other lifeguards at the beach and that Lucy had "very likely saved that child's life".

"What I was most impressed with was that she didn't turn and look for someone else to do the job. She just said, 'Well, I've been trained, I know I can do this', and she went and did it."

Mr McKenzie added he was particularly thrilled for "a Nipper to have the confidence and ability to conduct a rescue like that" which "tells me that we're doing something very right now nippers."

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