Yarra Leisure named 2018 Life Saving Victoria Pool Lifeguard Champions

Yarra Leisure has been named the 2018 Life Saving Victoria - Pool Lifeguard Champions, winning by a single point over Maroondah Leisure in an impressive display of lifeguarding skills and teamwork at Knox Leisureworks on Friday 7th September.

Commenting on the win, Yarra Leisure’s acting Centre Manager RJ Houston advised “we are very proud of our lifeguard team and this event really showcases the exceptional skill and talent lifeguards can achieve.

“The win for Yarra Leisure is great return for the safety culture instilled in our lifeguards and the significant investment towards in-service training that LSV does at the centre twice every month.”

Yarra Leisure’s team captain Sam Murphy added “this was a fantastic opportunity to put our training into use.

“Lifeguarding is about teamwork and working cohesively. We were able to work well as a team today, which put us in good stead.”

The event saw 18 teams representing 36 aquatic facilities were challenged in a variety of simulated scenarios, such as managing spinal injury situations, major first aids, lost children and distressed patrons, as well as race events in the pool including obstacle, tube rescue tows, line throws and manikin relays.

Event manager and Life Saving Victoria General Manager of Public Training and Pool Safety, Andy Dennis commented “the scenarios were designed not only to test the technical skills of the individual team members, but also their overall teamwork, communication and incident response capabilities.

“The scenarios they faced were difficult, but realistic, and could easily occur at the participants’ own facilities. A variety of twists and complications were also introduced into the scenarios to make the situations even more challenging.”

The event, the biggest of its kind in the country, was delivered with the generous support of Laerdal Australia and New Zealand using the latest Laerdal monitoring technology in the CPR event to provide, for the first time in such an event, immediate feedback to participants on the quality and effectiveness of their techniques. 

Overall Results:

• Yarra Leisure = 259 points 
• Maroondah Leisure = 258 points
• City of Kingston (2017 winners) = 253 points
• AquaPulse / Yarra Ranges = 239 points each

Yarra Leisure winning team-member and lifeguard Simon Rohan-Jones, who is also the Victorian Pool Lifeguard of the Year, reminding all visitors to Victoria’s public pools to play it safe by the water, concluding “water safety is everybody’s responsibility.”

LSV acknowledges the support of Knox Leisureworks, YMCA Victoria, the City of Knox and Sport and Education Development Australia (SEDA) for providing the event venue and support staff.

Images show competing teams at the 2018 Life Saving Victoria - Pool Lifeguard Championships: Winners Yarra Leisure (top), Maroondah Leisure (middle) and the City of Kingston (below).