Life Saving as a sport

BULSCA competitions are all about enjoying the experience of competing, putting the skills you learn into practice and making new friends. They provide the perfect opportunity for lifesavers to practice the skills as a team and to see how they respond under pressure. Each league competition consists of two elements: incidents and speeds. There is a brief overview below but the University of Birmingham have a fantastic sport section.With lots of links.

Incidents
There are two unseen incidents or SERC’s (simulated emergency response competition); one on land and one in the water. They are the ultimate test of lifesavers’ skills and team work, and they carry greater weighting in the overall competition scoring than the speed events. In a set time, between two and three minutes a team of 4 must assess the situation and then respond by rescuing and treating any number of casualties. A good team will prioritize the different casualties treating those with the greatest need. The scope of the incident depends largely on the writers imagination; in the past incidents have ranged from the conventional drowning in a pool or choking in a restaurant, to the more extreme such as a plane crash, a climbing accident or a ship sinking.

Speeds
As well as incidents league competitions consist of team speed relays. These test the fitness of a lifesaver and their ability to use their skills at speed. Competitions involve a Line Throw Relay, a Swim and Tow relay, and one additional speed event of the hosting clubs choice from the list below. These events are briefly described below, for full details download the BULSCA Competition Manual.

Line Throw (4 x 12m): Each team member will coil a rope and throw it to a team mate who is acting as a casualty before pulling them 12m to the wall. That team member will then throw the rope to the next team member, and so on.
Swim and Tow (4 x 100m): All four members swim 50m followed by towing one of their team mates 50m, generally using a wrist tow.
Obstacle Relay (4 x 50m): All four members of the team swim 50m during which they will dive under two submerged obstacle gates.
Medley Relay (4 x 50m): Competitor one swims 50m freestyle, competitor two then swims 50m with fins, competitor three then swims 50m towing a torpedo buoy. Competitor three then passes the torpedo buoy to competitor four who is wearing fins. Competitor four then tows competitor three, who is holding the torpedo buoy and kicking 50m.
Manikin Carry Relay (4 x 25m): Each member of the team will tow a full manakin 25m before passing it to the next member of their team.


	“Lifesaving sport is possibly the most demanding multi-discipline sport that exists in the world today” RLSS 2006