2019 Pool Lifeguard Challenge
The 2019 Pool Lifeguard Challenge was held on Thursday 21st February at the HBF Stadium outdoor pool, with 17 teams from various aquatic centres competing at the event. It was great to see ![]()
many centres entering a second team in this year’s event, as well as a new team from Swan Active Ballajura joining the fray.
Swan Active team manager Jarrad Mohr says it's a really beneficial event for their teams. "The event is a great opportunity for our Pool Lifeguard teams to challenge themselves and put their individual and team skills to the test against other industry professionals. Leading up to the event we have held additional training sessions offering extended professional development opportunities to our team members. I also see the event as a great opportunity to further develop team work and promote positive team morale and comradery amongst our own team and with other industry professionals.”
The Pool Lifeguard Challenge, sponsored by the Leisure Institute of WA Aquatics, and facilitated by Royal Life Saving WA, has been held annually since 2007, with the aim of testing the skills of lifeguards and encouraging the continued improvement of lifeguard teams at aquatic centres across WA.
Many regular teams returned this year, including Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre (2 teams), Fremantle Leisure Centre, City of Canning (2 teams), Beatty Park Leisure Centre, HBF Arena (2 teams), HBF Stadium, Bayswater Waves, Leisurefit Booragoon (2 teams), Swan Active Beechboro and Geraldton Aquarena. We’re especially impressed with the team from Geraldton Aquarena who got up at 3am to make the long journey to Perth for the event, heading back straight after the competition ended!
![]()
Geraldton team manager David Emery says it's worth the long trip to take part in the event! "The guys we get to come down as a team really build great bonds, they can take all the learnings they get from the Challenge back to their colleagues and peers in Geraldton. Being regional we don't get these opportunities as often so it's great to get involved and we find it makes our team better skilled and more experienced lifeguards."
It was great to see some familiar faces at this year's challenge, with several lifeguards returning for another year.
The day began with a team relay and obstacle course, with the second event being a Super Lifeguard Challenge, in which teams showed their swimming, manikin tow and CPR skills. The part of the day all teams look forward to is the final challenge, which this year involved teams responding to one of three acted-out emergency scenarios: a spinal, CPR or first-aid. The teams go into lockdown prior to the event, unaware of the scenarios unfolding out on the pool deck, ensuring no one can know what to expect from this exciting part of the challenge!
This year, volunteers and staff from Royal Life Saving put on their best acting display, role-playing a busy pool environment that included an emergency scenario. Lifeguard teams had to work together to scan the busy scene, which was filled with plenty of distractions. The incidents managed by the lifeguards included a mother not supervising her young child, being confronted by a loud and angry aquarobics instructor whose class had been interrupted by a stray water polo ball, a person injured on a giant inflatable, and finally a swimmer lying unconscious and face down in the water.
The teams showed fantastic skill in their response to the incidents thrown their way and appreciated the feedback from the judges on areas that could be improved in future.
At the end of the day the top three teams were: HBF Stadium in third place, Geraldton Aquarena in second place, while Kieren Lawrenson, Paolo Da Silva, Leigha Wood and Lewis Downs from HBF Arena Team 1 took out first place for the second year in a row! They topped the scoreboard during the first two relay race events, putting them in a great position going into the final CPR and emergency scenario events.
Royal Life Saving Society WA would like to congratulate all the competing teams for their performances this year and we look forward to seeing each of them return in 2020. We’d also like to thank the Leisure Institute of WA Aquatics for their continued support of the Pool Lifeguard Challenge, an invaluable event which ensures the continued development of lifeguarding in WA. We hope all competitors return to their centres with a new sense of the importance of the role they play in keeping aquatic centre patrons safe as they enjoy water activities.
