The project, promoted by the Association of Surf Schools of Portugal (AESP) and the Instituto de Socorros a Náufragos (ISN), will have five free training sessions during the month of May, the first in Espinho (15th), followed by Torres Vedras (20), Sesimbra (21), Matosinhos (23) and Lagos (29).

The idea was born from AESP's question “What if surfers were also lifeguards?”

As explained by the executive director of that association, Afonso Teixeira, since surfers, coaches, and surf schools “participate in rescuing and supporting hundreds of people at sea every year, normally in an informal way and without recording occurrences”, the AESP and ISN formed the partnership that establishes the connection between surfers and lifeguards along the entire coast.

In its fifth edition, the project has already had more than 350 participants, spread across actions developed in seven municipalities, with training taking place right on the beach, with a maximum limit of 60 participants.

According to Afonso Teixeira, the objective is to train “more than 200 professionals and as many students from schools along the entire coast”.

According to the person responsible, this year, for the first time, “there will be actions with children and adolescents from primary and secondary schools” and the topic of skin cancer prevention will be introduced.

Over the course of seven hours of training, divided into a theoretical-practical component and practical exercises, namely rescue without means, rescue with a board, and a complete rescue and basic life support sequence, participants learn “not only how to help drowning victims, how to act in situations in which they may be in danger.”

The training will be provided by military trainers from the Instituto de Socorros a Náufragos, as well as experienced surfers and coaches such as the duo João Guedes (father and son), recognized names in Portuguese surfing.

The initiative is open to anyone with the slightest knowledge of surfing, as well as professional lifeguards, certified by the ISN, which "will result in safer beaches all year round", according to Afonso Teixeira.

“It is possible to find surfers in the sea, throughout the year - and not just during the bathing season -, and, with some basic knowledge, they can really make a difference in drowning situations”, said the person in charge.

Afonso Teixeira recalled in this regard that, according to reports from the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards, in the last five years, 600 deaths were recorded in the aquatic environment, with the vast majority of drownings occurring at sea, hence the importance of counteracting these numbers with these formations.