Day one of the International Teams competition at the Lifesaving World Championships saw the Australian’s come out on top in the Youth SERC (simulated emergency response competition) before Japan sealed victory in the Open competition this afternoon.
SERC is one of the most technical events on the program and challenges the emergency response, rescue skills and initiative of lifesavers in a staged emergency situation that is unknown to the competitors before they enter the pool area.
Chief Referee Rebecca Boyd was impressed with the number of countries competing in LWC2024 and the standard presented today.
“The level of competition has really gone up in the last several rescue competitions, our results alone show the strength of more nations now and that they have been working very hard to achieve better results in the SERC and it was definitely displayed this afternoon,” she said.
“The youth just came out of nowhere and they were very excited, lots of learning to be done, lots of learning was had and it was energetic to listen to the spectators cheer on every team, every victim right to the very last moment so it was invigorating.”
“There have been greater efforts in reading the rule book and the understanding of the philosophy of SERC is evident in those nations that really rose to the top five, top ten versus the teams that have traditionally always done extremely well but struggled today.
“The games changed a little bit, much like at the pool and at the beach there are nations that have worked hard to learn the program, learn the rules and this is just another venue for them to be showing their skills.”
The competition now turns its attention to National Teams ocean, beach and pool rescue events from Thursday 29 August to Sunday 1 September.
Over at Kurrawa Beach, the Masters Ocean competition concluded today while Masters Surf Boat events kicked off which will continue again on Thursday.
Open National Teams SERC Results
1st Japan, 2nd Switzerland, 3rd Ireland
Youth National Teams SERC Results
1st Australia, 2nd Canada, 3rd Great Britain & Northern Ireland
The Lifesaving World Championships is supported by Experience Gold Coast and the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
