Safety first

If there was ever a weekend swimmers should feel safe at the Canada Games Complex, this would be it.

On Saturday a record-setting 80 lifeguards from 11 teams in six provinces descended on the facility to take part in the annual Canadian Lifeguard Emergency Respnse Championship, being held for the first time in Thunder Bay.

Tiffany Johnson, the facility supervisor of aquatics at the Complex – and a competitor at the championship as a member of the Thunder Bay Lifeguard Club – said athletes will compete in three separate categories over the two-day event.

“Basically its simulation events to simulate what may happen when you’re lifeguarding at the pool,” Johnson said.

A first-aid event, conducted on land, presents competitors with a scenario and requires lifeguards to treat victims as they see fit.

“We also have a water-rescue event which would simulate lifeguarding of the pool. So we have teams who lifeguard the pool and we have different events that will happen throughout the pool. They’ll have to treat those accordingly as well,” Johnson said.

“We also have a priority assessment which is based on the priority of your victims, having someone who is non-injured and somebody who is injured; having a non-swimmer as well as unconscious victims. It’s kind of a physical event as well, where you would have to try to clear the pool of all those victims, based on their priority level.”

The sport is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, though it has yet to win approval to actually join the Games.
Rebecca Boyd, Lifesaving Society of Canada’s event manager, said it seems to be growing rapidly as more and more people take part.

“We have been trying to promote lifesaving sport, which is the only sport in the world that is based on humanitarian efforts first. Sport came out of a humanitarian effort to save lives and prevent people from drowning,” Boyd said.

“So we’re pushing the lifeguards here to be their very best as lifeguards and improve their skills.”

The event is getting bigger each year, and after a sixth-place finish at last year’s World Games, Canada will be sending a team to this year’s global championship in Colombia.

“They are the best of the best. The calibre continues to rise,” Boyd said.