Blue Water High is an Australian show targeted to teens that ran for three seasons from 2005 - 2008. Each seasons followed a different group of Australian surfers who had been chosen to take place in a year long training course at the Solar Blue Academy, at the end of the year there would be a final surf off and the best male and female would win a ticket on to the pro circuit. Season one brought us Rebecca "Bec" Sanderson, Dean "Edge" Edgely, Perri Lawe, Matthew "Matt" Leyland, Fiona "Fly" Watson, Heath Carroll and Anna Petersen. Craig "Simmo" Simmonds was head coach while Deborah "Deb" Callum took care of the management and Jilly ran the household and looked after the surfers. Season one quickly became a big hit with various related competitions were held and even live interviews which fans could watch online.
Season two had Deb moved back to management buildings while Fly decided to be a coach at the academy. The new surfers were Eric Tanner, Amy Reed, Mike Kruze, Brooke Solomon, Corey Petrie and Rachel Samuels. The second season wasn't as well received as the first, with the main problem being overly dramatic. It was still popular.
Season three came after almost two year of waiting and brought with it a lot of changes. Solar Blue had been purchased by a company that didn't really want to keep funding it, giving an in-universe version of Executive Meddling. Simmo had been fired, Jilly had left and Bec had been given the job of head coach. Garry Miller was soon chosen as trainer. The students this year were Guy Spender, Charley Prince, Adam Bridge, Bridget Sanchez, Loren Power and Cassie Cometti.
Blue Water High is notable for being one of only two Australian teen shows to receive three seasons for the decade 2000-2009, the other being H₂O: Just Add Water.
This series provides examples of:
- Academic Athlete:
- In season 1, Bec, Fly, and especially Matt are responsible students, other than being good surfers.
- In season 2, Corey is a computer expert who likes studying and overanalyzing everything, even his surfing techniques.
- In season 3, Charley and especially Bridget are overachievers in general, at both surfing and studying.
- Attractiveness Isolation: In one episode, Matt is afraid to ask Perri to the dance, because she's the pretty glamour queen and he assumes she has already been invited by many boys. His friends also tease him because he has no chance with her. It turns out at the end that no one asked her to the dance for the same reason.
- Back for the Finale:
- Deb is Put on a Bus after season 1, but appears again in the season 2 finale.
- Simmo is Put on a Bus after season 2, but appears again in the season 3 finale.
- Bathroom Stall of Overheard Insults: In season 3, it happens when Bridget overhears two classmates talking about about much they find her obsessive and stuck-up in the bathroom of the school.
- Break the Haughty: This is what has happened to Edge on the pro circuit before his cameo appearance in season 2
- Cloudcuckoolander:
- In season 2, Eric tends to have the head in the clouds, and often speaks without thinking.
- In season 3, Guy is similarly eccentric. His friends are usually confused by his opinions.
- Comically Small Bribe: Anna once suggested Simmo keep Deb occupied by offering her vouchers to a PG-rated movie.
- Cool Big Sis: Fly played this role in season two, Bec switched between this and Team Mom depending on the situation in season three.
- A Day in the Limelight: Fly is one of the main students in season 1, and comes back as an assistant teacher for Simmo in season 2. While the second season focuses on a new group of students, Fly herself gets two spotlight episodes.
- Dark Horse Victory: In season 3, Loren gets the opportunity to join the Pro Circuit, despite being the most insecure about her abilities compared to everyone else.
- The Determinator: Once Anna puts her mind to something she will not stop.
- Disappeared Dad: Eric's father ran away when he was young.
- Fake Guest Star: Jilly appeared in more episodes than anyone but Simmo, Fly and Bec.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble:
- In season 2, there are three males (Corey, Eric, and Mike) and three females (Amy, Brooke, and Rachael).
- In season 3, there are three males (Adam, Guy, and Charley) and three females (Cassie, Loren, and Bridget).
- Averted in season 1, which has seven protagonists, with four of them being females and three being males.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Justified with Edge because his parents were almost always on the pro circuit when he was growing, so he's gotten used to doing everything on his own and can't let anyone see the softer side.
- I Call It "Vera": Matt calls his board Angelina.
- Insecure Love Interest: Some characters show their insecuries when they think their love interests would never like them back. An example would be Matt who thinks Perri is too pretty to date someone like him.
- Limited Social Circle: Apparently averted but as we see none of them hanging out with anyone but each other this is an Informed Attribute.
- Motor Mouth: When Eric starts talking, it's impossible to stop him. It's also the reason why he has trouble talking with girls.
- Nice Girl:
- Fly. The first time we see her she wishes her opponent "some good waves and good luck" with a heartwarming smile. Her opponent's response? She tells her to stay out of her face and damages her surfboard. Fly isn't even angry at her, just shocked.
- In season 3, Loren is described in-universe as the sweetest girl ever. She always puts everyone else before herself.
- Oh, Crap!: Given whenever one of the surfers plan is found out by Simmo.
- One Crazy Night: In "Dreams and Dramas", the group attempt to keep Fly out of the house while they organise her surprise party. This results in Fly and Heath getting stranded miles from home, being caught in the rain, taking shelter in a caravan, the owner of the caravan towing it away, and them accidentally setting fire to the van while they attempt to signal the driver. Meanwhile, the others are holding a party without the guest of honour, which turns into a Wild Teen Party when gatecrashers arrive.
- Only Known by Their Nickname:
- Simmo is short for Craig Simmonds.
- Bec is short for Rebecca Sanderson.
- Edge is short for Dean Edgely.
- Fly is the nickname of Fiona Watson.
- Poor Communication Kills: It happens in the first episode of season 3. Cassie and Adam arrive early at Solar Blue, but find everything locked up for a long time, so they try to break into the house, but a neighbor sees them and calls the police. When the police arrive, Cassie and Adam just say "It's not what it seems!" and "We can explain!", before being taken to the police station. Obviously, they didn't explain immediately that they are Solar Blue students (they both have the papers that prove it) and they were just waiting for the others.
- Ship Tease: There is no indication of a relationship between Deb and Simmo for all of season one, except for the episode where they go to the kids prom equivalent together, in the same car.
- Shirtless Scene: The male surfers spend a lot of screen time with their shirts off. Justified, as they are surfers.
- Spoiled Sweet: Perri loves to spend her father's money on expensive clothes, she is pretty and can be a bit shallow but she's also cheerful, nice and a loyal friend.
- Stern Teacher: While Simmo is more laid back concerning the behaviour of the kids, Deb can be quite intimidating.
- Successful Sibling Syndrome: Joe Sanderson feels a bit jealous that his younger sister Bec was admitted into the Solar Blue academy and he wasn't. Especially since he was the one who taught her to surf when they were younger, and they were hoping to attend the academy together.
- Talent Double: While the actors were given some surf lessons, most of the surfing was done by stunt doubles.
- Token Minority: Seasons 2 and 3 feature one of these amongst the main kids. The German national probably also counts for Season 1. In the last season it is Eka Darville before he became the Red RPM Ranger.
- True Companions: Due to being stuck in a house together with almost no spare time all three groups eventually become this during their stay, unfortunately once they are back in the real world this stops being the case.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: The show is set in a surf school.
- Wild Teen Party: A fairly mild example happens in first season. Possibly unique in that the kids decide to come clean about it themselves rather than trying to cover it up.