Latest news
Australia takes Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Championships
Australia has retained its crown as Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Champion, fending off stiff competition from Canada and South Africa.
Over three days of competition, the Australian team rewrote the Championship Record books, smashing an astounding 10 Championship Records in individual and team events.
The team also claimed two new Commonwealth Records _ Andrew Bowden in the individual 100m Rescue Medley and the 4 x 25m Women's Manikin Relay (Sarah Windsor, 31, QLD; Felysia Konakoff, 23, NSW; Jane Cooper, 26, NSW; Jessica Brown, 24, WA).
On the final day, the Aussie Barras crushed their opposition with a clean sweep, winning gold in every event. In total, the team brought home 15 gold medals across the three day Championships which were held in Edmonton, Canada.
Luke Harper's efforts in the pool have also seen him spring board into the Australian World Games team to compete in Taipei later this year, replacing Ben McCauley who is unavailable.
Royal Life Saving's National Sports Development Officer, Penny Hodgers, said the team had performed beyond anyone's wildest expectations.
"For lifesaving as a sport, the Commonwealth Championships are the equivalent of the Commonwealth Games," Mrs Hodgers said.
"To see some of our younger team members not just up there with the best, but stripping time off established Championship Records is a fantastic result. It gives us a great deal of hope for the future of the sport in Australia.
"Despite the pressure of international competition, our team really knuckled down and showed their maturity when it mattered.
"It was great to see the team fighting it out for first and second in a number of key events because it means we don't have to wait for a big international meet for each of our team to have strong enough competition to really push them on to even better results."
Five of the team, Andrew Bowden, Luke Harper, Felysia Konakoff, Mitch Parkes, and Sarah Windsor, join fellow Royal Life Saving representative, Jenny Parry, to compete in the Australian Lifesaving Team at the World Games to be held in Taipei in July.