Just a month ago, students were enjoying their last weekend of school holidays before the beginning of the 2026 school year. Year 9 student Austin Appelbee captured the attention of the nation and the world’s media with his holiday heroics in the state’s South West.
This week, we sat down with the Mundaring Christian College (MCC) student who swam through treacherous seas to save his mum and siblings.
“I let go of the kayak, took off the life jacket, it was all about my family,” said Austin during an interview with British television station ITV.
“Umm, you know, it was tiring. But, you know, just the motivation and, you know, singing, singing songs, praying prayers, hoping for the best, saying to yourself ‘not today’ and, yeah, just keep on going.”
The story of the Appelbee rescue has been well-documented by numerous print, radio and television stations across the globe.
- Mum and the three children rented paddleboards and a kayak from their resort in Broadwater near Busselton, about 250km south of Perth.
- When no one came to rescue them, Austin’s mother, Joanne Appelbee, asked her eldest son to swim back to shore to get help while she tried to calm her other children, 12-year-old Beau and 8-year-old Grace, who were clinging to paddleboards.
- Austin’s remarkable four-kilometre swim made news around the world, with rescuers praising his “superhuman” efforts to save his family.
- The family was eventually rescued after an estimated 10 hours in the ocean, after Austin ran 2km from the beach where he came ashore to find his mother’s phone so he could make the Triple Zero call.
Media throngs outside the gates of the family’s Gidgegannup home have meant that the semi-rural homestead has seen more traffic and television cameras than ever before, and the emails and texts have been relentless.
The family have given much of their time to answering journalistic questions, with school life, Cadets and Youth Group at DreamBuilders church also filling their busy schedule.
“I have a really chill friend group”, said Austin.
“When the news got out, one of my friends, Hamish, said, ‘Oh, he swam four kilometres, yeah, that’s pretty good, but I solved a Rubik’s Cube!’”
“We make these jokes along the way, and, you know, like, school is one of my safe places, to be honest. Friends have been treating me well. And then, you know, obviously, public, that’s a whole different environment. And, Youth Group is a very safe place for me.”
Perhaps the most enjoyable part of this newfound fame has been the opportunity to meet sporting great Jake Waterman from the West Coast Eagles football club this week, along with mum and the family, at Mineral Resources Park (the Eagles’ headquarters and training ground).
While touring the practise facility and taking in the weights room and the club’s swimming pool, Jake Waterman remarked, ‘Maybe Austin could give us some swimming lessons in there!’ to the laughter and applause of the players and family.
Through all of this, the family has received support from anonymous GoFundMe donors, recognition from the WA Governor, the Irish Consulate and a donation of frequent flyer points from Qantas.
Mundaring Christian College has also worked in consultation with the SCEA Central Office and DreamBuilders church staff to provide as much support as possible for the Appelbee family.
In a recent interview on 98.5 Sonshine radio, Austin spoke about the event with the two radio hosts who asked about his prayer while swimming:
“I said – Lord, give me strength. And obviously that happened. I said The Lord’s Prayer. I have a really good Youth Group leader – Tallis Dumbleton – and he teaches me how to pray. That’s really helped me out.”
“I’m now trying to get to church every week. I’d like to get baptised. But people are already joking that I was baptised during that long swim.”
While mum Joanne is happy that Austin has met his favourite football player this week, she is looking forward to life returning to normal soon:
“He’s been waiting forever for this [the West Coast Eagles visit], but I’m hoping that things might settle now.”
