In what is becoming a tradition and a way of giving back to the water based community SSAC was once again asked to volunteer a few divers to help with the NSW Pool Lifesaving Championships held at the brand new Murray Rose Aquatic Centre in Rose Bay. For those unfamiliar with pool lifesaving competition it involves competitors racing each other in various events designed to simulate rescue scenarios. These ranged from retrieving and towing manikins up and down the pool to swimming under obstacles and throwing rescue lines. A short video can be seen here.
The SSAC volunteer divers for the weekend were Paul, Ben, and Steve W whose job was to set the manikins on the bottom of the pool for each heat and retrieve them once the event concluded. A seemingly simple enough task, however as we discovered, much more physically taxing than anticipated. With a close eye on our depleting gas reserves we made it through both days successfully and by the end of the weekend had become experts in manipulating and retrieving manikins underwater.
Overall, a very well organized weekend by SLSA and a fascinating event to witness and be a part of.
