An official at last year's National Surf Life Saving Championships says senior carnival referees were warned about dangerous surf conditions "at least twice" several hours before a young competitor drowned.

Sunshine Coast boy Matthew Barclay, 14, became the third competitor to die at the national championships at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast in less than 20 years.

Robert Gatenby died in 1996, and Saxon Bird in 2010.

Greg Holland, an official competition announcer in the under-19 arena at last year's championships, has told Four Corners that he overheard the warnings on the official two-way radio channel used by competition officials.

He says he heard reports that the surf was "pretty strong for that young group of competitors" and perhaps they ought to be moved to another day or a different spot on the beach.

Mr Holland says he contacted the police and Surf Life Saving officials with the information, but neither has followed up with him.

In tonight's Four Corners episode The Surf Club, the former president of Sydney's Cronulla Surf Club says he overheard the area referee in the under-15 arena relay concerns to the deputy referee saying officials, parents and spectators were concerned about the safety of junior competitors.

"There was a request coming from ... officials in the carnival that surf conditions were pretty strong for those young group of competitors and that possibly they could consider ... trying to move them to another day," he said.

"I heard that at least twice.

"One of the officials who has the authority to make the adjustments asked them to keep going as per the normal program."

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A professional lifeguard from Gold Coast City Council also told officials about 11:00am that day that they were concerned about the dangers posed by dumpers in the under-15 arena.

Despite these warnings, Matthew Barclay's competition continued, and about 4:30pm on March 19 last year, he was apparently struck on the head and lost in the surf during the board rescue heats.

His body was recovered the next morning.

Mr Holland has told Four Corners he was involved in coordinating the rescue of Matthew Barclay but as dusk fell and hopes for finding the boy alive faded, he had a conversation with the deputy referee of the carnival.

"The deputy referee said to me, 'it's a great shame, because we were about to call this off anyway'," Mr Holland said.

"And I said, 'please don't tell me that because that was the same response that we understood was given in 2010, that you were about to call it off just before Saxon Bird's accident'.

"And there was no response. We walked on in silence, but then I thought, 'well, how has this happened again?'"

Neither Surf Life Saving nor the deputy referee Dick Bignold would comment on Mr Holland's recollection of the conversation, telling Four Corners the death was still under investigation.

The police report is now in the hands of the Queensland coroner, who is yet to decide if there will be an inquest.