LIFESAVERS from across the Mornington Peninsula showed their skills in the water at the Victorian Masters Championships at Lorne Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC).
Life Saving Victoria’s most experienced lifesavers from 23 clubs, plus visitors from Queensland and South Australia, put on a masterclass of skills at the championship event two weeks ago, which saw the Point Leo club announced as water champions on the day with 348 points, while Mount Martha claimed the beach events with 139 points.
LSV senior manager sport Chris Schleusener said with competitors aged 31 to 76, the masters championships kept people engaged with lifesaving long-term, offering community, social and fitness benefits.
“The masters championships allows some of our most experienced lifesavers, some of them with 40-plus years of patrolling under their belts, to display their rescue ready skills in an inclusive competitive environment,” Schleusener said.
“Our masters competitors are the backbone of our clubs, from their role on the front line saving lives, their tireless work behind the scenes on club committees and supporting the next generation of lifesavers through nippers, training and development.
“We have incredible competitors, such as Michael Wilson from Portsea, who have decades of competition and patrol experience, and multi-generational families like Martin and Samantha Barrow, whose family now competes and patrols at Mordialloc with them.”
The masters is the first of three state championship events to end the summer season, with the Victorian Senior Championships coming up at Ocean Grove this weekend, 24-26 February.
First published in the Mornington News – 21 February 2023
