Of the 1,300 Goodwill Games athletes competing in 14 sports and chasing a collective prize money pool of $5 million, none are happier to be gathered here in greater Brisbane than the men and women of “surf lifesaving”. It was added to the 2001 program in deference to the host nation.

Not surprisingly, Australia is the epicenter of competitive surf lifesaving, a rare athletic pursuit in that it has redeeming social value. If you are drowning or under siege by a hungry shark, these are the people you want in the immediate vicinity.

The stars of surf lifesaving would love to be able to tell you they’ve devoted their lives to all of this for the huge salaries, endorsement deals and continuous television exposure. But since none of the above are in the offing, they settle for surf, sand and sun, and the knowledge that they’ll be ready when some helpless soul needs to be plucked from the Pacific Ocean.

“A lot of what we do is prevention,” explains Australian team member Mark Williams, 26, who grew up on the beaches south of Brisbane on what is known as the Gold Coast.

Williams began his training as a lifesaver at age 5. He was certified at 15. International Life Saving president Alan Whelpton says about one third of the 102,000 registered surf lifesavers in Australia are younger than 14. As a sport, it is popular enough that its national championship is televised for nine hours over a two-day period by Australia's Channel 9, a national network.

That TV universe is about to expand dramatically, as TNT plans to air portions of the Goodwill Games surf lifesaving competition Saturday, Sunday and Monday during its primetime show from 9 to 11 p.m. ET. What you will see are teams comprised of five men and four women competing in 12 disciplines with names like “mixed board rescue”, “beach sprint” “Ironman/Ironwoman” and “lifesaver relay”. Along with Australia, the world powers are South Africa and New Zealand, but teams are here from Canada, France, Great Britain, Spain and the United States as well.

It is a combination of open water swimming, endurance and speed against the backdrop of Australia’s magnificent Kurrawa Beach, about an hour from downtown Brisbane. The area is a vacation hot spot populated by high-rise hotels, condos and tourist shopping arcades. There is a high-end Hotel Versace close by.

The ocean was choppy and waves were swelling Friday as a weather system moved through, but weather is expected to improve for the weekend’s activities. Surf lifesavers are indifferent to the notion of ideal conditions. As Rachel Anderson of the New Zealand surf lifesaving team observed, “At the end of the day, we can only compete with what the gods dish up.”

The Goodwill Games finance gods have dished up a team prize money pool of $27,500 (with a first prize of $3,300 divided among nine people each of the two days). This is virtually unheard of in a world where most of the life guarding is done on a volunteer basis. Williams, a congenial blonde beach boy, has a day job as a sales rep for Kellogg’s and works for free as a lifeguard on weekends. Not exactly Baywatch.

Minimal pay is not the only potential drawback of surf lifesaving. There is always the chance a shark may show up unannounced. Although the waters off the Gold Coast are netted to protect people from the toothy predators, Williams acknowledges there are no guarantees.

“This is where they live,” he says. “We’re in their backyard.”

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