Australian Lifesaving Team sets sights on World Championships 2020

The 2019/20 Australian Lifesaving Team has been announced, with 64 athletes selected across both the High Performance and Pathways squads. The news follows the recent announcement of the Australian Youth Lifesaving Team. It is hoped that the team can lead Australia to victory at the Lifesaving World Championships 2020.

The Australian Lifesaving Team last took out the World Championships in 2018, and each of the twelve athletes who took part in that campaign have returned to the fold as part of this year’s High Performance Squad. This year’s squad boasts a star-studded line-up of champions from a host of recent pool and surf lifesaving events.

Congratulations to WA’s own lifesaving champion Jake Smith, who was named among the 30 High Performance Squad athletes. Jake recently competed as part of the WA State Team at the Australian Pool Life Saving Championships (APSLC) in Sydney, where he performed exceptionally well. He claimed 6 individual gold and 5 team gold medals, as well as taking out the Australian Cup Super-Lifesaver award and overall gold in the Open Male category. 

The Australian Lifesaving Team will also feature a Pathways Squad that features the best up-and-coming talent from across the country. These athletes have the potential to represent Australia at future World Championship events in the years to come. Well done to WA State Team members Maddison Howe and Callan Smith (Jake’s younger brother), who have both been named in the Pathways Squad. 

Maddi is flying high off the back of her stellar performance at the APLSC. She took out overall silver in the Under 19 women’s category, as well as 1 individual gold, 2 individual silver, 2 individual bronze, 3 team silver and 1 team bronze. Callan unfortunately missed this year’s APLSC, but for good reason – he was accepted for a swimming scholarship in the US!

There are several events to come in 2019 that will see the ALT defend their titles and strive to earn others. The Pathways Squad are up first, with ten athletes to represent at the Sanyo Bussan Cup in Japan on June 22-23.

Congratulations once again to Jake, Maddi and Callan, and we look forward to seeing them in action as part of the upcoming events – hopefully as World Champions!

To find out how you can get involved in Pool Lifesaving click the link below.