Four Waterford lifeguards head down under for the World Lifesaving Championships

Fifteen of Ireland’s top Senior and Youth Lifesavers are currently taking part in the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships from 23rd August – 8th September.

Four Waterford lifeguards are competing as part of Team Ireland across two of the four catagories.

Tom Breen and Odhran Savage are part of the Senior Mens squad, while Jamie Flynn and Luca Power are competing on the Youth Mens team.

The competition sees lifesavers from over fifty countries across the world compete in pool and sea environments at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and Kurrawa Beach in Queensland, Australia.

The Championships simulate real-life rescue situations that lifeguards can expect to encounter and pits the best Lifesavers from around the world against each other in a series of gruelling water rescue scenarios.

Events will be livestreamed on YouTube, Facebook and the World Lifesaving Championships website.

“Ireland has a proud tradition of participating at the World Lifesaving Championships and this year’s competitions will test Team Ireland to further develop their skills in an international setting” explained Simon McGarrigle, Chair of the Water Safety Ireland Sport Commission.

“The team, both coaches and competitors, have worked tirelessly to prepare for this year’s events and we are excited to see them perform on the world stage.

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“Ireland also has reputation of producing international referees and this year, Clare McGrath will take up the role of Deputy Chief Referee for the SERC competition.

“This demonstrates the confidence of the International Life Saving Federation in Irish referee skills and abilities,” Simon continued.

The World Lifesaving Championships take place every two years organised under the aegis of International Life Saving Federation.

The sport of lifesaving exists to encourage lifesavers to maintain the skills, drills and physical fitness required for performing their lifesaving duties.

The sport is truly multi-disciplined and takes place in the pool, on the beach and in the ocean.

It has close ties to swimming, athletics, kayaking, rowing, surfing and power boating and is based on the equipment and skills that lifeguards use to perform lifesaving rescues.

Senior and Youth competitors typically become top Lifeguards, patrolling beaches and pools in Ireland and abroad.

Training is volunteer based and it is a sport that gives back to a community in terms of a skill that benefits users of waterways nationwide.

The 2024 Lifesaving World Championships is being held on the Gold Coast in Australia, between the 20th of August and the 8th of September 2024.