A near-forgotten world record attempt in Lorne

I am sometimes asked how I find new topics to write about for the weekly Surf Coast Times “Committee for Lorne” page and for my monthly “From the Deck” column in the Lorne Independent, the combined total of which now stands just short of 300 individual articles. Ah … if only they were paid contributions!

Some ideas come from casual comments over a winter glass of wine at the A-Team, or around the table at one of the long third-weekly Ipsos lunches that my local friends and I so enjoy … comments which often lead to later expansion into an article.

Most, however, pop into my head as I take Blighty for his daily walk along an empty winter beach … the soaring flight of a wedge-tailed eagle searching for food at the George, spotting strange sea creatures in the rock pools of North Lorne, or enjoying the awe-inspiring power of an easterly sea crashing against the rocks of Point Grey.

Occasionally, however, a text message or email may come out of the blue … do I know about “such-and-such” event? … or can I recollect some half-forgotten relic of the past?

It was one of those chance texts — this time from Chris Tutungi [aka ‘Tull’] — that led to this piece. Chris, clearly a daydreamer as well, wrote as follows:

… John, can you recall an event on the Lorne foreshore in the mid-60s near where the tennis courts, old trampolines, and the Brendan Edwards Bounce-ball area were located, when two divers attempted to set an underwater record in a large tank by using hookahs? My dad knew one of them — a Frenchman named Maurice — who spent some time at the Lorne Hotel, was well suntanned, and often dressed in white. The two divers planned to eat hard-boiled eggs underwater [NB: their toilet arrangements remain uncertain], and it generated a lot of interest and publicity.

As I had no recollection of the event, I decided to ‘phone a friend’. Sharon Walding answered, recalling it being mentioned in Doug Stirling’s excellent book, ‘Lorne: A Living History’. A paragraph on p60 reads:

“… in the 50s, Gordon Avery and Maurice Selles [NB: Doug adds an ‘s’ to Selle’s name, but it was correctly spelled Selle] put on diving gear and tried to break the world underwater record by submerging in a water tank on ‘The Flat’ before a sizeable crowd.”

At that time, many divers [especially abalone divers] were interested in using a hookah [see more below] as a cheap diving device. It seems that Gordon [a local abalone diver] decided to team up with Selles to try out this [somewhat risky] method of underwater survival. Whether a record was created remains conjecture — no official hookah diving records exist, and Google is silent on the Lorne attempt — but the two photo captions in the Lorne News [the Lorne Independent’s forerunner] suggest that one was, while they also correct the year to 1963.

Tull also wondered how Selle was connected to Lorne … how he came to be here? … and whether there was a link between the Arab and Abom? … but as the Smith brothers opened the Abom at Mt. Buller in 1964 and Selle was from Buller, the 1963 Lorne News date may provide the clue.

Let me now transition to describe these two madcap adventurers. Firstly, Maurice, a Frenchman of some high-country renown, is well defined at https://tinyurl.com/2t93pjwy as follows:

“… examining the history of the Mt Buller Ski Patrol, one person who cannot be forgotten is Maurice Selle, a ski instructor who played a key role in establishing Buller’s first ski patrol in 1949. It was Selle’s request to use the Red Cross emblem on the shoulder ‘flash badge’ for the four Buller patrollers [NB: there were only four then, and all were volunteers] that sparked the growth of the larger, more formal patrol system in 1950. Selle later became the Superintendent of the Mt Buller Patrol [later part of the Victorian Red Cross Ski Patrol Corps], and the manager of ‘The Whitt’ {the Ski Club of Victoria} from 1951–1955.”

As for Gordon Avery, he was a Lorne local who originally hailed from England [possibly Birmingham] and was not averse to a spot of nefarious skulduggery. I have edited Tull’s following memoir, though Trumpists may prefer to describe it as ‘moderately redacted’!

“Gordon was a good mate of my father, Fred. An abalone diver, Gordon met Dorothy Caird while she worked at the Co/op [another Co/op story] when Fred was the manager in 61-62 and before Henry Love took over. Gordon later married Dorothy and lived on Howard Street.”

Gordon will likely be well-remembered as “quite a lad” whose speciality was fishing and diving for abalone around King Island. Indeed, Tull still has some of Gordon’s enormous abalone shells. Now, for the redacted bit!

“Much has been written about the wreck of the Loch Ard at Port Campbell and how and when it was finally found. Gordon and a mate, who had been looking for it for quite some time, had apparently heard on the Warrnambool Diving Club grapevine that its location had been discovered but was being kept secret to prevent pillaging*. This did not stop Gordy and Co! Coming across from King Island one night, [it is said that] they blew a hole in the hull, then ‘relieved it’ of much of its lead ballast [and perhaps some other stuff too] before hightailing it back to King Island. Much later, a hole was found in its hull when its whereabouts became better known.”

*NB: The site is now a protected historic shipwreck under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.

Finally, to dispel your mental image of an abalone diver with an Arabian water-pipe hookah, now often seen on Lorne’s grassy flats, strapped to his back, these pictures show the difference!

Perhaps, then, Gordy and Maurice were not as deranged as I initially assumed them to be but were just a bit ‘ahead of their time’.

John Agar
Feature Writer

A word from the chairman

Happy New Year.
Many thousands enjoyed our two spectacular NYE fireworks displays, with all our hospitality outlets full to the brim and every vantage point along the coast keenly sought after. We thank our business and community sponsors, including Great Ocean Road Real Estate, Mantra, the Grand Pacific Hotel, the Op Shop, the Aquatic Club and the Surf Club, and the many individual contributors for enabling our community and visitors to safely enjoy a spectacular display of light and sound and an opportunity to “close the door” on a year which was often characterised by conflict, uncertainty and sadness.
*****
For our town, this is the time we welcome our visitors, and this year they seem to have come, and continue to come, in greater numbers than ever, to share our special place. The Nippers program jumped the gun before the New Year dawned, with 400+ youngsters aged from 5 to 13 learning water skills, water safety and first aid. They are our future lifesavers, Pier to Pub competitors and possibly Olympians! What an amazing effort to organise our young people through 7 days of training and the Club championships. Congratulations to the organisers and the 100+ volunteers who run this award-winning program year after year.
Now comes the time for the big kids! By the time you read this, more than 2,000 competitors will have taken on the challenging but beautiful Mountain to Surf course early on Friday morning. On Saturday, our carparks, beaches and open spaces will fill up early as 5,000+ Pier to Pub competitors, their families and friends look to find a place to enjoy the amazing spectacle of the world’s biggest open water swim in the world’s most beautiful location. If you need something from town, go early or do it on Friday!
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Two of our local organisations, who are both major financial benefactors to our community, are making the most of our visitor influx. Our “absolutely fabulous” Op Shop has been doing record business, thanks to the support of many generous donors of goods and a committed band of volunteers. We commend them for their dedication. Meanwhile, the Aquatic Club has also been doing record business thanks to good weather, efficient and friendly service and free live music. This Saturday, the amazing Vulkans will perform from 5pm. It will be a big Pier to Pub night, so get there early and remember it’s Members Only, but at $25 for a single membership (for this year only) you would be a mug to miss out!
*****
On Friday night, our cricketers will take on Forrest in a day/night game at Stribling Reserve from 4.30pm. With the temperature expected to stay above 20 degrees for the duration of the game, it will be the perfect night to enjoy some local cricket in a spectacular venue. The bar will be open (no BYO) and hot food and snacks will be available for purchase. We look forward to seeing you there.
Cheers