Surf Life Saving Seeks Wave of Support for Olympic Bid

(ATR) Surf life saving will be on show on the final day of SportAccord Friday as Australia’s iconic sport continues its push for Olympic inclusion.

Champion surf lifesavers, led by a selection of the Gold Coast’s local ironmen and ironwomen, will bring the curtain down on what has been a hugely successful SportAccord conference.

It seems appropriate that Surf Life Saving, with a century-long history in Australia, will feature on the final day of SportAccord. The sport is vying for Olympic inclusion at the Los Angeles 2028 Games and, if Brisbane bids for the 2032 Olympics, the sport’s champions hope it will be included in those Games.

Surfing is one of five additional sports at the Tokyo 2020 Games, with shortboard for men and women.

Surf Life Saving’sOlympic ambitions were made clear when it featured on Glenelg Beach in South Australia last September during the International Life Saving World Championships.

And the Olympic aspirations will continue tomorrow on the sidelines SportAccord when the male and female ocean M events and the mixed ocean M lifesaver relay are showcased by 30 Gold Coast surf sports athletes from six local clubs.

The events are based on the Ironman and Ironwoman events that are conducted as part of the world championships under the Oceanman and Oceanwoman individual events. These include four legs – running, swimming, board paddling and ski paddling.

Also on view Friday will be the mixed lifesaver relay with two men and two women sharing the same four disciplines – in and out of an M shaped course between the beach and the ocean.

Amongst the starters will be Kurrawa’s Australian team representative Matt Bevilacqua, a member of the national team that wrested back the World Teams Championship from New Zealand in Adelaide last September.

The International Life Saving Federation was recognized by the IOC in 1996.

Surf Life Saving’s current pitch for the Olympics calls for the inclusion of 12 nations each represented by two male and two female athletes in the ocean M events and one team in the mixed ocean M lifesaver relay team.

This would result in the sport being represented by 24 males and 24 females in the respective ocean M and ocean M lifesaver relay events.

In Olympic competition all three events would be conducted as straight finals, according to the federation.

It is proposed that the National Teams Lifesaving World Championships would be the qualification event for the Olympics, or alternatively at a specific qualification event organised by the International Life Saving Federation.

It is also proposed that the host nation for the Games should be an automatic qualifier together with the next top 11 placed teams in the ocean M lifesaver relay at the national teams lifesaving world immediately prior to the next Olympics, or an alternative qualification event.

SportAccord delegates will be invited to an afternoon on the beach to witness the action after an address by ILS president and Surf Life Saving Australia president Graham Ford.

The federation will also use the opportunity to showcase ‘Iron Racing’ for possible inclusion in future Olympic Games.

It comes hot on the announcement today that the World Life Saving Championships would return to the Gold Coast in 2024, after an absence of some 36 years, bringing home "Australia’s sport" to the shores of the 2018 Commonwealth Games host.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate welcomed the return of a sport and a movement that plays such a huge part in the region and Australian sporting landscape.

"This is another historic occasion where we welcome back international surf lifesavers one thing about the Gold Coast we’ve got the most number of beaches to celebrate surf lifesaving as a major part of our heritage," he said.

"It is befitting that ILS will attract between 7000 and 8000 competitors – more than the 6,600 we had last year – it will be the Commonwealth Games all over again but this time it’s going to be on the beach," said Tate.

Ford described the showcase as "a very important occasion".

"It is appropriate that we do this at the SportAccord in front of all the major international federations from the Olympics, from the Olympic federations and those that are trying to be recognized," he added.

"Lifesaving is part of the Olympic family we are recognised by the International Olympic Committee so we are very proud to be here."

Reported by Ian Hanson at SportAccord

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