ABW Dec 2023-1

Lifesaving sports are relatively new to the Philippines,
with Zambales active in competitions since 2012
when operation with the Philippine Life Saving
Society and first competed in their Great Titan event
is 2012, which had been run each 2 years since abound 2008.
Zambales also started it’s first competition in 2012 as did the
Cebu Lifeguard Rescue Challenge and others followed, such
as the Festival of the winds in Boracay in 2013 also Thailand
with the Phuket Lifesaving Championships in 2016.
However many have fallen by the wayside for various reasons
or become available only to members of that particular
association, such as The Festival of the winds that would not
allow outside teams to compete with non-organizer teams,
so those who arrived had to compete separately and in fact
could not be awarded positions, this even applied to junior
lifesavers, who despite placing in most major events, were
only issued a Certificate of Participation as they were not a
member of the organizing association, Philippine Red Cross,
it appeared that after that one event it either did not continue
or was only available to Philippine Red Cross participants.
Cebu had it’s Cebu Rescue Challenge, which operated until
2018 when the results were disputed due to the awarding
of all major placings to local Red Cross teams, based on
“Bonus Points” which were never in the regulations, however
it was soon emphasized that the regulations stated that the
Words by BARRY DAWSON
Photographs as Credited
Lifesaving Sp S
Philippines and S
“Lifesaving Sports
should be about
perfecting the art of
Lifesaving, by improving
techniques and
lifesavers performance,
it should not be about
politics...“
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