The grim summer a hundred years ago that gave Coogee Beach a sinister reputation

A woman is fighting for her life after being mauled by a shark at Sydney’s Coogee Beach.

One of the most popular beaches in Australia, there has not been a fatal shark attack at Coogee in more than 100 years.

But in 1922, the beach gained a macabre reputation.

Over that summer, two young men were killed in quick succession by sharks at the beach.

The first was a 19-year-old named Milton Coughlan, who died within an hour of being pulled to shore.

Then a month later, 21-year-old Mervyn Gannon was mauled by a shark at the beach.

He died of his injuries in the following days.

As a result, the NSW government introduced a bounty of £50 for every shark caught in Coogee Bay, a substantial sum at the time.

A shark net would be installed at Coogee by the time summer came around again.

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Woman fighting for life after Sydney shark attack

Despite the grim reputation Coogee developed in 1922, it remained one of Sydney’s most popular swimming beaches.

Three years later another young swimmer would be bitten in waist-deep water at Coogee. He lost his leg but survived the attack.

For most of the 1920s, shark attacks remained rare in Sydney, save for four in 1929 alone - two at Bondi, one at Maroubra and one in the harbour.

But in the past 12 months there have been six fatal shark attacks in Australia, including two in Sydney.

In January, 12-year-old Nico Antic died after he was attacked by a suspected bull shark in Vaucluse.

And 57-year-old surfer Mercury Psillakis was killed at Long Reef Beach in Dee Why in September.

An attack off Little Bay in 2022 was the first shark fatality in 59 years in Sydney.