Dawson, Taylor & Taylor win Aussie Pool Rescue medals
Three young Bulli Surf Life Saving girls come away with a swag of medals and Australian records to boot at last weekend’s 2012 Surf Life Saving Australia Pool Rescue Championships held in Adelaide.
More than 400 entrants from 48 Surf Life Saving Clubs around Australia and a Development Team from NZ contested the championships. There were 180 competitors racing in the Under 12’s, 13’s and 14s categories and this included the Bulli trio of Abbey Dawson (U14), Kiah Taylor (U14) & Mali Taylor (U13).
Abbey Dawson was the star with 3 gold medals all in Australian record time in the U14 Female 50m Manikin Carry (41.11), U14 Female 100m Manikin Tow with fins (1:08.46) & U14 Female 50m Freestyle with fins (22.99). Kiah Taylor took home two bronze medals in the U14 Female Manikin Carry and teamed with Abbey to place 3rd in the U14 Female Line Throw. Mali Taylor produced her piece of gold in the U13 Female 50m Brick Carry with an Australian record time of 35.08, she also placed a close 4th in two other events.
The younger age categories have been introduced for the first time this year to encourage greater participation in pool rescue completion and develop pool-specific skills amongst these younger members.
Graham Ford, President of Surf Life Saving Australia is excited about the introduction of the junior racing in the pool. “It’s fantastic to see that these young members are given the opportunity to commence pool rescue competition from so early on. Not only does this mean that they have access to our sports development pathways, it also means we - Australia - have the potential to produce surf lifesavers with broader skill sets that extend beyond the beach.”