SOUTH Worcestershire Lifesaving Club duo Alex Jackson and Amy Weston captured gold medals galore at the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) National Speed Championships.
Jackson, a member of the Great Britain lifesaving squad and taking part in the 15 to 17-year-old category for the last time, posted a time of 53.86 seconds to win the 100m manikin carry.
The day before he had already won the youth national rope throw title in the 12m rope as a thrower and then won a gold medal and secured a national record in the open category as a catcher.
Jackson also won a silver in the 100m manikin tow and a bronze in the 50m manikin carry, missing gold by hundredths of a second in both.
Weston, also taking part in the 15 to 17-year-old category for the the last time and a member of the RLSS performance squad, posted a time of 01:22.53 to win her national title and gold medal in the 100m rescue medley – a complicated lifesaving event involving the swimmer having to swim 17m underwater before rescuing a manikin and towing it to safety in a 3m deep pool.
Weston also won the national title in the 100m obstacle race and a bronze medal in the 50m manikin carry – again missing out on gold by hundredths of a second.
Bronze medal success was secured in both the 12m and 10m categories in the girls’ rope throw, with Lara Harding throwing a personal best time of 16.30 seconds to her partner Ellen Forson and Clara Forson also throwing a personal best time of 12:65 seconds to her partner Mia Robins.
Taking part in the 15 to 17-year-old category, Harding also posted personal best times in three of her six events, with Ellen Forson achieving personal bests in two of her three events.
Tom Clifford, also in the 15 to 17-year-old category, went close to his personal bests despite suffering with a shoulder injury.
In the 12 to 14-year-old category, Laura Inett was taking part for the first time having only hit the age of 12 days earlier and she took everything in her stride, completing all her races in a good time.
Across the board the team of Clara Forson, Robins, Ruby Stankovich, Rebecca Lehaney, Inett, Robert Thorner and Andrew Thorner achieved a total of 18 personal best times, many of which were significant, including a ten-second PB for Robins which gave her 12th place in the 100m manikin carry with fins.
Anyone interested in lifesaving can email the club at [email protected].
