Surf's up at Brittas Bay for Wicklow lifesavers

Junior and Senior teams get ready for national championships

THOSE paying a nighttime visit to Brittas Bay's south beach at the moment are likely to come across some local lifesavers being put through their paces.

The junior and senior surf lifesaving teams from Wicklow are currently hard at work training for the national championships and are out at Brittas Bay four nights a week, as well as being in the local swimming pool three early mornings per week.

Freddie English, Dorcas Corcoran and Greg Duffy, from the Wicklow Surf Rescue club, in training for the upcoming national finals.

September sees the national competition being held and Wicklow has a strong record from previous years.

Surf lifesaving is a sport which tests and develops the skills of lifeguards throughout the country. Disciplines include surf swimming, board and ski races with speed runs, a Canbuoy rescue, a board rescue, and a Taplin relay and Ironman. The competition in the pool is based on speed swims, carries and endurance.

Wicklow man John Morton recently represented Ireland at the German surf life-saving championships, on the Irish team who finished sixth in the European section.

All members of Team Ireland reached finals and the men's team narrowly missed out on a bronze metal in the taplin section.

Meanwhile, Scott Morton has just returned from Wales where he competed at the Welsh surf lifesaving championships and won gold in the U16 Ironman's contest.

Successful swim and water safety weeks were held by the Wicklow Water Safety Committee in Wicklow Harbour last month, as well as a safety week in Bray, and the committee are indebted to the voluntary work carried out instructors and examiners.

They are also grateful to sponsor Rocwell Water, without whose generous support they wouldn't be able to purchase much-needed equipment.

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