#lifesaving – Ireland has won Gold in the European Lifesaving Championships in Jönköping, Sweden. This outstanding achievement has been achieved by Bernard Cahill and Rory Sexton from Clare. They won their medals in the team beach event which simulates a rescue from the water called a Board Rescue.

Bernard also won a Gold medal in Run Swim Run event whilst his teammate Rory Sexton won silver. Bernard then went on to win another Silver in the individual Rescue Board Race. Meanwhile in the Girls Run Swim Run, Lily Barrett from Ennis took a bronze medal. This is the first time that Ireland has made such an achievement, overall we won the beach competition. We were 4th Overall in the Boys Competition at beach and pool events and we are now ranked 8th overall in Europe. These results reflect the excellent work done at local and national level in Lifesaving sports for a number of years now.

What makes this success special is the great work undertaken by the volunteers who teach and train these young athletes.

The Championships simulate real life rescue situations that these Lifesavers can expect to encounter as Lifeguards. To secure six International medals at European level is testimony to how hard they trained and how well they prepared as individuals and as a team.

Lifesaving sport is primarily intended to encourage lifesavers to develop, maintain and improve the essential physical and mental skills needed to save lives in the aquatic environment. Lifesaving competitions consist of a variety of competitions to further develop and demonstrate lifesaving skills, fitness and motivation. Children around Ireland as young as eight can get involved in a series of progressive Lifesaving classes taught by Irish Water Safety, through the www.iws.ie website and hopefully go on to represent their country in these competitions.