260 athletes between the ages of 10 to 77 years from 22 Royal Life Saving NSW lifesaving clubs and Surf Life Saving clubs across the state competed at the 2-day NSW Pool Lifesaving Championships at the Murray Rose Aquatic & Fitness Centre in Sydney on 22-23 April 2023.

This year saw the first joint delivery of the Pool Lifesaving Championships between Royal Life Saving NSW and Surf Life Saving NSW, this amalgamation increased access to key sport volunteers (equipment movers/handles), officials, and championships organisers.

The NSW Pool Lifesaving Championships offers a platform for the state’s best lifesaving swimmers to test their technical skills in a unique environment. With 8 individual disciplines and 3 relays to compete in, events are based around speed in lifesaving scenarios, with obstacles and weighted items in place of real-life patients.

The first day of the championship, saw our Masters and Junior competitors (Under 11’s to Under 14’s) take to the pool. Royal Life Saving athletes had great success in particular our Masters age competitors, with Andrew Bowden, Troy Racklyeft, Jenny Whiteley, Nerida Murray, Pam Stanley, Norm Stanley, Robbie Wait, Rob Dale, all taking a place on the podium and going home with a State Medal.

A mind-blowing 8 World Records were broken from two incredible Masters athletes Jenny Whiteley and Pam Stanley.

Jenny Whiteley

• 50 Manikin Carry (broke her own record set at APLSC 2023 in Melbourne and then again Saturday and again on Sunday)

• 100 Manikin Carry with Fins (broke her own record set at APLSC 2023 in Melbourne)

• 100 Manikin Tow with Fins (broke Pam Stanleys record set in Adelaide 2018)

• 100 Obstacles (broke her own record set at APLSC 2023 in Melbourne)

• 100 Rescue Medley (broke her own record set at APLSC 2023 in Melbourne)

• 200 Superlifesaver (broke her own record set at APLSC 2023 in Melbourne)

Pam Stanley

• 100 Manikin Carry with Fins (broke Bulgarian Yanakieva Rositsa’s record achieved at the Lifesaving World Championships, Riccione, Italy in 2022)

• 100 Manikin Tow (broke German Beideck Margarete’s record achieved in Alicante, Spain 2017

These records are currently being validated by ILS. For more details on lifesaving world records visit https://records.dlrg.de/index.php

The second day of the championships showcased our U15’s to Open athletes battle it out. Standout performances from RLS athletes include Engadine/Bulli Athletes; Chelsea Jones and Brayden Woodford. Chelsea took out Gold for all U19 Female events, and a silver medal in the Line Throw. Chelsea also put up the fastest time of all female athletes in the 200m Super Lifesaver, 100m Rescue Medley, and 50m Free with fins. A standout meet from an exceptional athlete. After a busy week at The National Australian Swimming Championships Brayden backed up for a big day of lifesaving in the Pool. Brayden’s discipline and commitment to the Sport is highlighted in his exceptional performances, taking out all Gold Medals in the U17 Male events.

A big congratulations goes to Parramatta City Swim Club who competed at their very first NSW State Pool Lifesaving Championships. Our newest club brought a strong team of 20 athletes to the event and had a very successful meet picking up a total of 25 medals. Parramatta had immense success in the U11 Girls, with strong performances from Irene Lee and Dana Park. In this age group alone, Parramatta picked up 1st and 2nd place in the 50m Obstacle Swim, 50m Tube Clip ,50m Brick Carry, 50m Freestyle with fins and 1st place in the Line Throw.

Thank you to all the clubs that competed at this year’s Championships:

• Bondi SBLSC

• Broulee Surfers SLSC

• Bulli SLSC

• Caves Beach SLSC

• Cronulla SLSC

• Elouera SLSC

• Enfield Lifesaving Club

• Engadine Swimming Club

• Hills Swimming & Lifesaving

• Newport SLSC

• North Cronulla SLSC

• North Curl Curl SLSC

• North Wollongong SLSC

• Mingara Lifesaving Club

• Parramatta City L Club

• Redhead SLSC

• Shelly Beach SLSC

• South Maroubra SLSC

• Tamarama SLSC

• Terrigal SLSC

• Umina SLSC

• Wanda SLSC

• Warilla Barrack Point SLSC

Well done to all the athletes that completed in the Championships. We look forward to following the athletes that will form our state team as they lead into National Pool Rescue Championships in August, followed by the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships to be held in Canada later this year.

Want to get involved in the sport and learn more About Pool Lifesaving (drowningprevention.org.au)