The Order of Lifesaving
The Order of Lifesaving honours exceptional voluntary service to ILS, its regions and the international lifesaving movement.
Commander
Minimum qualification: Any person who has given extraordinary service to the ILS and/or its Regions over a period of years in a voluntary capacity as an officer, a Member of the Board of Directors, or a Member of a Commission/Committee. Such a person must, at a minimum, have served ILS, WLS or FIS in such a capacity for a period of no less than twenty (20) years and must have served as a Member of an ILS member organisation/federation for no less than thirty (30) years.
Dr Harald VERVAECKE PhD
Belgium
2023
John MARTIN MBE
Great Britain – Surf
Deceased
2023
Jelle MEINTSMA
South Africa
2023
B. Chris BREWSTER
USA – USLA
2023
Greg ALLUM AM
Australia – Surf
2023
Peter GEORGE AM
Australia – Surf
2024
Norman FARMER AM ESM
Australia – Royal and Surf
2025
Grand Knight
Minimum qualification: Any person who has given extraordinary service to the ILS and/or its Regions over a period of years in a voluntary capacity as an officer, a Member of the Board of Directors, or a Member of a Commission/Committee. Such a person must, at a minimum, have served ILS, WLS or FIS in such a capacity for a period of no less than fifteen (15) years and must have served as a Member of an ILS member organisation/federation for no less than twenty-five (25) years.
Hugo ALBERGA
Netherlands – KNBRD
Deceased
1994
Klaus BARTNITZKE
Germany – DLRG
Deceased
1994
Melvin (Max) BOWMAN
United States – USLA
1994
Doug D'ARNALL
United States – USLA
Deceased
1994
Jack DEARLOVE MBE
Australia – Surf
Deceased
1994
Dr Ian MACKIE MD
Australia Surf and Royal
Deceased
1994
Dr Achille MARCHETTI, MD
Italy – FINS
Deceased
1994
Vincent MOOREHOUSE
United States – USLA
Deceased
1994
Frank NOLAN
Ireland – IWS
1994
Denis OSBORNE
South Africa – LSA
Deceased
1994
Maria Teresa PAREDES FARGAS
Spain
1994
Wojciech PLOCIENNIK
Poland
Deceased
1994
Warren RENNIE AM
Australia – Surf
1994
Michael SOMERS
Ireland – IWS
Deceased
1994
Gerhard STIPANI
Austria
Deceased
1994
Prof. Dr. Stoyan SAEV MD
Bulgaria
Deceased
1994
Paul SMITH, OAM
Australia – Surf
Deceased
1994
Gus B. STAUNTON MBE
Australia – Surf
Deceased
1994
Cdr Charles THOMSON MBE O. ST. J
Great Britain – Surf
Deceased
1994
Kevin WELDON AM
Australia – Surf
Deceased
1994
Bertil WERNER
Sweden
Deceased
1994
Alan WHELPTON AO
Australia – Surf
1994
Derrick WHITTING
South Africa – LSA
Deceased
1994
Dr Klaus WILKENS PhD
Germany – DLRG
Deceased
1994
Prof. Dr Mieczyslaw WITKOWSKI PhD
Poland
Deceased
1994
Gabriel Petrus BOTHA
South Africa – LSA
Deceased
1996
Michael Gifford MORTIMER
South Africa – LSA
Deceased · Awarded posthumously
1996
Dr Anthony HANDLEY MD
United Kingdom – Royal
2004
Dr Harald VERVAECKE PhD
Belgium – BRF
2004
Jelle MEINTSMA
South Africa – LSA
2008
John MARTIN MBE
Great Britain – Surf
Deceased
2008
Norman FARMER ESM
Australia – Royal and Surf
2008
Martin O'SULLIVAN
Ireland – IWS
2009
B. Chris BREWSTER
United States – USLA
Robert BRADLEY
Australia – Royal
Brian VELVIN
New-Zealand – Surf
Greg ALLUM AM
Australia – Surf
2013
Dr Detlev MOHR PhD
Germany – DLRG
2014
Peter GEORGE AM
Australia – Surf
2022
Dave THOMPSON AM
Australia – Surf
2023
Justin SCARR
Australia – Royal
2023
Dr Mohamed SALEH MD
Egypt
2023
Prof Dr Joost BIERENS MD, PhD
The Netherlands
2023
Perry SMITH
Canada
2023
Graham FORD AO
Australia – Surf
2024
Jolanda VAN DALEN
Netherlands
2025
Peter DAVIS
USA – USLA
2025
Knight
Minimum qualification: Any person who, in a voluntary capacity, has given extraordinary service to ILS and/or its Regions over a period of at least ten (10) years as an officer, a member of the Board of Directors, or a member of a Commission/Committee. Such a person must, at a minimum, have served as a member of an ILS member federation/organisation for no less than twenty (20) years.
Gregory BONANN
United States
1996
Phillip Walter COLES AM
Australia – Surf
Deceased
1996
Dr Jean DUCOEUR MD
France
Deceased
1996
Pedro WALCH DEN TUINDER
Spain
Deceased
1996
Umberto TRAMONTANA
Italy – FINS
Deceased
1997
Dr Anthony HANDLEY MD
United Kingdom – Royal
1997
Domenico MAIELLO
Italy – FINS
Deceased
1997
Dr Stefan GLADILOV, MD
Bulgaria
1998
Sigurd BRATTETVEIT
Norway
1998
General Ignazio CORRENTI
Italy – FINS
2001
Volkmar FRIEMEL
Germany – DLRG
2001
Martin O'SULLIVAN
Ireland – IWS
2001
Dr Pietro ROTONDANO MD
Italy – FINS
2001
Cdr Hendrik VOORHELST
Belgium – BRF
2001
Jelle MEINTSMA
South Africa – LSA
2004
John MARTIN MBE
Great Britain – Surf
Deceased
2004
Greg ALLUM AM
Australia – Surf
2004
Norman FARMER AM
Australia – Royal
2004
John LONG
United Kingdom – Royal
2004
Dr Patrick YEUNG CHE-TO PhD
Hong Kong – China
2005
Brian VELVIN
New Zealand – Surf
2006
Walter GRIMM
Austria
2006
Joan DUNCAN
Canada
2006
B. Chris BREWSTER
United States – USLA
2006
Robert BRADLEY
Australia – Royal
2006
Bob DEKKERS
Netherlands – KNBRD
2009
Dr Detlev MOHR PhD
Germany – DLRG
2009
Greg McLENNAN
Australia – Royal
2010
Ortwin KREFT
Germany – DLRG
2010
Helmut STOHR
Germany – DLRG
2010
Kenneth WHITE
United Kingdom – Royal
Deceased
2011
Janet CASTRO
United Kingdom – Royal
Deceased
2011
Frans KENIS
Belgium – BRF
2012
Peter GEORGE, AM
Australia – Surf
2014
David (Dave) THOMPSON AM
Australia – Surf
2014
Justin SCARR
Australia – RLSS
2015
Dr David SZPILMAN MD
Brazil – SOBRASA
2016
Prof. Dr Joost BIERENS MD, PhD
The Netherlands – KMRD
2017
Peter DAVIS
USA – USLA
2017
Graeme CULLEN
New Zealand – Surf
Deceased
2017
Chiharu AIZAWA
Japan
2017
Perry SMITH
Canada
2017
Erik BECH
Denmark
2017
Dr Mohamed SALEH, MD
Egypt – EDLF
2017
Jolanda VAN DALEN
The Netherlands – KNBRD
2017
Clive HOLLAND
United Kingdom – Royal
2017
Anne-Maree GARDINER
Australia – Royal
2018
Graham FORD AM
Australia – Surf
2019
Dr Peter WERNICKI MD
United States – USLA
2019
Doug FERGUSON
Canada
2019
Isabel GARCIA
Spain
2020
Richard Ming Kirk TAN
Singapore
2020
Ian FULLAGAR AM
Australia – Surf
2021
Morrie CHIANG
Chinese Taipei
2022
Cdr Wim NUYENS
Belgium – BRF
2022
Karin OBUS
Belgium – ILS HQ
2022
Allen PEMBROKE
South Africa – LSA
2022
Dr Giorgio QUINTAVALLE PhD
Italy – FINS
2022
Ludger SCHULTE-HÜLSMANN
Germany – DLRG
2022
Joachim KELLERMEIER
Germany – DLRG
2023
Dr Jürgen MAISS PhD
Germany – DLRG
2023
Peter CONNELL
Australia – Surf
2024
Barbara MORGAN
Australia Surf and Royal
2024
Rebecca BOYD
Canada
2024
Leonardo MANINO
Argentina
2024
Adam WEIR
Australia – Surf
2024
Sameh EL SHAZLY
Egypt
2025
Dr Dirk BISSINGER PhD
Germany – DLRG
2025
Dhaya SEWDUTH
South Africa
2025
Helen HERBERT
South Africa
2025
Palema SIMON
Australia – Surf
2025
Dr Shayne BAKER PhD OAM
Australia – Royal and Surf
2025
Fernando MARTINHO
Portugal – ASNASA
2025
John BRENNAN
Australia – Surf
2025
Carsten SCHLEPPHORST
Germany – DLRG
2025
Shane DAW ESM
Australia – Surf
2025