Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has seen exactly one shark bigger than the 3.5-metre beast that turned Sydney's Coogee beach into a scene from ‘Jaws: The Sequel Nobody Asked For’ on Saturday morning.
The North Bondi athlete was training for July’s world championships in Hawaii when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark” - not exactly the motivational playlist he had in mind. As he paddled toward the commotion, several swimmers attempted to climb onto his 18-foot (5.5-metre) board, apparently forgetting that paddleboards are not life rafts with complimentary drinks.
“I’m familiar with shark behaviour and it looked like it was just being inquisitive, it didn’t look like aggressive behaviour,” Verco told Guardian Australia, which is comforting unless you’re the one being ‘inquisited’. But then another woman started screaming, and Verco realised the shark had upgraded from curiosity to ‘dinner plans’.
“There was a lot of blood in the water, it was quite shocking,” he said, understating the situation like someone describing a hurricane as ‘a bit breezy’. The shark surfaced, showing off its dorsal fin - about 3.5 metres of pure ‘I don’t pay rent’ energy. Verco noted he’s only seen one bigger shark: a tiger shark in Hawaii. So, at least the beast has international credentials.
Verco said the woman disappeared, then reappeared - which is either a miracle or a very aggressive game of peek-a-boo. The shark released its grip, and Verco managed to get her to grab part of his board. But then she lost consciousness, forcing Verco to become a one-man rescue operation: paddling with one hand while holding a bleeding woman with the other.
“It seemed like forever before the shark alarm went off,” Verco said, though in reality, paddling her to shore took “probably only about three, maybe five minutes.” That’s still an eternity when you’re essentially playing tug-of-war with a prehistoric predator.
A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance confirmed the woman - in her 30s, because of course she is - suffered arm and leg injuries and was taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital. She was in critical condition on Saturday evening, which is roughly the medical equivalent of ‘we’re not making any promises but we’re trying’.
A SLSNSW spokesperson said all beaches from Bondi to Maroubra had been closed and would remain closed for at least 24 hours. Chief executive Steve Pearce noted it was the fourth serious shark incident in Sydney since September 2025, adding: “We are sending our best wishes to the woman involved and her family at this time, after another terrible shark incident on our coastline.” Because at this point, “thoughts and prayers” might need a rebrand to “thoughts and shark nets”.