South Africa’s youth squad finished fourth at the Lifesaving World Championships in Adelaide, Australia.
The fourth-place finish, among 16 teams, was the best ever result for South Africa’s youth in the history of the competition.
Every member of the 12-strong squad won a medal, as South Africa tallied 21 medals.
Team South Africa (open and youth) finished sixth overall in the combined Pool and Surf competitions. There were 34 countries competing.
Hosts Australia won the overall title and the youth title. New Zealand finished second.
Youth results at the pool:
SERC
– Milan Erasmus, Alice Edward, Kira Bester and Tamryn McKie – Gold
Good assessments of the scenario together with good communication and use of available aids helped them secure a first place.
200 Obstacles
– Calvin Coetzee – Bronze
Line throw
– Milan Erasmus and Connor Botha – Gold
With a new world record of 9.17 seconds, crushing the old record of 10.65 seconds. Milan has unofficially broken this record twice before, and it was his dream to break it at this championship.
100m Carry with Fins
– JP van Zyl – Bronze
200m Super Lifesaver
– Sulinke van den Berg – Bronze
4 x 50m lifesaver relay
– Milan Erasmus, Connor Botha, Calvin Coetzee and Juan Pierre van Zyl – Bronze
This was the very last event and they came back from sixth position after the third swimmer, to come third in this event – a really great achievement and an exciting finish to watch.
Every member of the Youth Team got at least one medal – in total they achieved 21 medals, a remarkable achievement!
Alice Edward (Girls Captain): 1 x Gold (SERC), 1 x Bronze (Oceanwoman relay)
Ally Chislett: 1 x Silver (Surf Swim), 1 x Bronze (Oceanwoman relay)
Kira Bester: 1 x Gold (SERC), 1 x Bronze (Oceanwoman relay)
Paige Horn: 1 x Bronze (Oceanwoman relay)
Tamryn McKie: 1 x Gold (SERC)
Sulinke van den Berg: 1 x Bronze (200m Super Lifesaver)
Calvin Coetzee: 1 x Bronze (200m Obstacles), 1 x Bronze (4 x 50m Lifesaver relay)
Connor Botha: 1 x Bronze (Board Race), 1 x Gold (Line Throw), 1 x Bronze (4 x 50m Lifesaver relay)
Daniel Jacobs: 1 x Bronze (Surf Ski)
Juan – Pierre van Zyl: 1 x Bronze (100m Carry with Fins), 1 x Bronze (4 x 50m Lifesaver relay)
Matthew Fenn: 1 x Silver (Surf Ski)
Milan Erasmus (Boys Captain): 1 x Gold (SERC), 1 x Gold (Line Throw), 1 x Bronze (4 x 50m Lifesaver relay)
* SERC is a simulated emergency response scenario where the contestants have two minutes to assess an emergency rescue situation and respond by assisting – this is actually what lifesaving is about, and the winning team here – in this case Team RSA got presented with a trophy for this event as well as medals.
* General Tire is the sponsor of Lifesaving South Africa.
@mark_keohane