Skills for life.
Sport for everyone.

The manikin tow simulates a non-contact rescue of a conscious patient. Conducted over 100m, A competitor swims 50m with fins and a rescue tube, touches the turn wall, and then fixes the rescue tube around a half-filled manikin held by a handler (who is outside of the water). A competitor then tows the manikin 50m to the finish.

The manikin carry requires competitors to recover a submerged manikin and perform a contact tow, simulating the rescue of an unconscious submerged patient. The manikin carry is performed over distances of 50m and 100m, with and without fins. Manikins weigh approximately 40kg when filled with water - strength and technique are key in this event.

The line throw is one of the most exciting pool lifesaving events to watch and is equally a test of speed, technique and accuracy in performing a dry rescue. Competitors have 45 seconds to coil a rope, throw it to their patient in the water and pull them back to the start wall, usually over a distance of 12.5m. The world record for line throw is just 9 seconds!

The obstacles event involves swimming under two submerged barriers (know as obstacles) each lap of the race, placed at an equal distance from each end of the pool. Obstacles simulate underwater hazards in an aquatic environment and swimmers must use skills of scanning, surface diving and swimming underwater to complete the event. Competition events are usually held over 100m or 200m distances.

The cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) competition is a timed test of accuracy and technique, with competitors required to demonstrate effective resuscitation on a training manikin. Competitors are judged and given a score based on how well they follow the resuscitation protocol for a drowning patient including initial assessment, effectiveness of rescue breaths, effectiveness and timing of compression and communication to judges.

Simulated Emergency Response Competition (SERC)
The simulated emergency response competition (SERC), also known as an initiative test, challenges the emergency response, rescue skills and initiative of lifesavers in a staged emergency situation that is unknown to the competitors before they enter the pool area. Conducted in both individual and team formats, competitors are judged and scored on their application of rescue principles, emergency care, teamwork and communication. SERC events normally run for 2 minutes and are more or less complex depending on the age group or lifesaving award held by the competitors.