11 NSW athletes have been selected as part of the Australian Youth Lifesaving Team (AYLT) squad of which a team will be chosen to represent Australia at the Life Saving World Championships 2020 (LWC2020).
The squad of 32 is made up of the top Under 17 athletes in the country with outstanding and consistent performances throughout the 2018/19 season.
The final team will be selected after the completion of the 2019 pool rescue season and 2019/20 surf sports season.
The squad program consists of two international competitions over the next 16 months being;
- International Surf Rescue Challenge – 12 athletes (September/October 2019)
- Life Saving World Championships – 16 athletes (September 2020)
The change to 16 athletes for National Team Competition at LWC2020 is yet to be ratified by International Life Saving (ILS) Board however will be put forward as a recommendation at the next ILS Board meeting in September.
Australian Youth Life Saving Team Head Coach for the LWC2020 Campaign, Craig Holden is confident the depth across the squad would give the team the potential to reclaiming the Youth National Team Title.
“We have an amazing array of young talent here in Australia and it is always extremely difficult in determining our squads,” said Holden. “We are extremely confident in the young athletes we have selected across all disciplines and really excited to see how they develop over the next year or so heading toward LWC2020 in Italy.”
SLSNSW Surf Sports Manager Rob Pidgeon is pleased with the selection that shows the spread of upcoming talent in NSW. “The 12 NSW representatives in the squad come from right across the state. From the Far North Coast right down to Mollymook on the South Coast, it’s great to see strength in our country and city clubs recognised.”
“As a state, we have a lot of exciting talent emerging not just on the beach but also in the pool. Our athletes are so versatile and we can’t wait to watch them develop over the next few months ahead of team selection,” said Pidgeon.
Amongst the NSW team are; Zach Morris from Newport SLSC claimed the Youth Ironman World Champion title along with a clean sweep of U17 individual events at 2019 NSW State Titles.
Sam Zustovich of Mollymook SLSC won gold in both U17 flag and sprint events at Aussies along with a second place in the Open Male Flags.
LWC2018 Youth World Champions Kaylah Holmes from Umina SLSC along with Illawarra’s Holly Holmesby & Zara Sharman from Bulli SLSC will represent their clubs in the pool.
NSW Australian Youth Lifesaving Team (AYLT) Squad Representatives
Holly | Holmesby | Bulli | Engadine |
Zara | Sharman | Bulli | Engadine |
Holly | Abbey | Coogee / Nowra Culburra | |
Asher | Wilson | Coogee | |
Bella | Williams | Cooks Hill | |
Isabellah | Walker | Cronulla | |
Joey | Warne | Cudgen Headland | Royal Life Saving QLD |
Sam | Zustovich | Mollymook | |
Zach | Morris | Newport | The Hills |
| Kye | Taylor | Swansea Belmont | |
Kaylah | Holmes | Umina | The Hills |
Blake | Hessel | Umina | The Hills |
Thursday 30 May 2019