Pool Lifeguard Challenge 2021
The 2021 Pool Lifeguard Challenge was held on Friday 19th February at Riverton Leisureplex, with 14 teams from various aquatic centres across the metro area competing at the event. The Challenge has been held annually for over a decade and is sponsored by the Leisure Institute of WA Aquatics (LIWA Aquatics), and facilitated by Royal Life Saving WA. It aims to test the skills of lifeguards and encourages the continued improvement of lifeguard teams at WA’s aquatic centres.
Teams competing this year included Riverton Leisureplex (2 teams), Kwinana Recquatic, Leisurefit Booragoon (2 teams), Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre (2 teams), HBF Arena (2 teams), HBF Stadium, Beatty Park Leisure Centre (2 teams), Fremantle Leisure Centre and Cockburn ARC.
The day involved a great mix of serious skill testing and a lot of fun! It began with a swim and manikin tow relay, followed by a line throw challenge. The third event saw teams show off their rescue and resuscitation skills with one member swimming to rescue a patron and tow them to the pool edge, then working with two other lifeguards to get the person out of the water, while a fourth team member then showed off their CPR skills.
Event four saw lifeguards duck-diving in the diving pool to retrieve bricks from the bottom as quickly as possible. The fifth event tested the teams’ emergency response skills, with the lifeguards having to safely remove a patron from the water slide after they had suffered a head injury and become unconscious! This was followed by teams responding to four different first aid incidents, including
bites and stings. The final event was a bit of fun, with lifeguards blindfolded and having to reach and treat their teammate’s head and arm injury by following verbal cues from their partner only!
Throughout the day the teams showed fantastic skill in the races and their response to the incidents thrown their way, while also showing great team camaraderie and co-operation. At the end of the day the top three teams were: HBF Arena Team 1 in third place, Beatty Park Team 2 in second place, while Rebecca Brook, Courtney Foster, Rachel Southam and Mhari Wilson from Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre Team 1 took out first place!
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 2022. 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.