Sydney: In Australia, home to some of the world's most beautiful beaches, they suffer from surf rage and this summer, lifeguards are going to be able to pacify it.
Outdoors-loving Australians flock to the beach in droves, with sun-worshippers, swimmers and surfers jockeying for a patch of sand and sea to call their own.
And as the temperatures rise and the crowds thicken, tempers sometimes fray.
"Surfers are out their to do their sport and they get very passionate about what they do and swimmers are the same," said John Restuccia, New South Wales Director of Life Saving.
"Surf rage doesn't happen very often to us as lifesavers but dealing with conflict at any stage can be uncomfortable," he added.
Restuccia said the Silver Medalion Life Saving Course was currently on trial and that it would be launched nationwide this summer. The course involves informing lifeguards about their environment as well as teaching them the best way to deal with beachgoers.
"It's about how to better communicate to the public, how to better resolve issues that may happen on the beach and also how to better communicate to their patrol team," Restuccia added.
"A better-educated lifesaver on the beach becomes a better person to serve the public and that's what we are trying to do."
Australia's beaches are largely peaceful, but they have seen their share of violence.
In 2006, a Sydney surfer was banned from all city beaches after facing 29 charges relating to a campaign of intimidation he waged against fellow surfers.
In one incident the surfer reportedly slapped and spat at a lifeguard.
The growing popularity of the surfing has also meant more people riding the waves, which sometimes leads to scuffles with other surfers and swimmers.
In 2005, an attack on a pair of lifeguards in Cronulla sparked riots between white Australian youths and ethnic-Lebanese Australians that damaged cars, shops and churches.
