Lifeguards train for surf rescue competition

Here’s something you don’t see on Lake Annette every day: surf boards.

Last weekend, area lifeguards attended their fourth and final training camp in preparation for the 2008 Canadian Surf Lifesaving Championships in Toronto on August 22-24.

Coach Lisa Chell from Hinton said the championships encompass a variety of events, based on skills they would use out on the ocean such as paddle boarding, swimming, rescue, and an event called surf-ski, which is like a sit-on kayak.

Though surf life-saving competitions are more popular in places with greater access to the coast, it’s catching on in Canada as well. This will be the second year Alberta has sent a team to the Canadian championships.

“It’s typically in countries that have a lot of ocean, like Australia. Australian surf life-saving is the equivalent of hockey in Canada, that’s how big it is,” Chell said. “But it’s a growing sport in Canada, it’s fairly new, fairly small.”

Juniors, or those younger than 17 years old, must hold a bronze certification while seniors must hold a national lifeguard certification.

Fourteen lifeguards and junior lifeguards from Jasper, Hinton, Lethbridge, Edmonton and Wetaskiwin will comprise Alberta’s representation at the competition put on by the Lifesaving Society. Jasper is sending Gerrad Lewin, Paula Ermet, Theresa Westhaver and Kathleen Gallagher.

Last year Ermet and Lewin both made the finals, and Westhaver won a number of medals in the junior? category, Chell said. “This year I’m expecting to see them place even higher,” she said, adding that the team is aiming to make it to the finals. “Last year nobody knew what to expect.”

Because most of the team members were from the area last year, training camps were held in Jasper, and Lake Annette worked out so well they decided to use the locale again.

“I really pushed for this lake, because there’s no motorized vehicles, it’s clean, it’s clear, and there’s sand,” she said. “We had a fantastic training camp.”

Chell said she’s looking forward to the championships because participants can pick up a lot watching people compete at the elite level. “It’s a growth and learning experience, every time you go you’re going to learn,” she said. “And it’s fabulous, it’s a lot of fun.”