Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Elite Lifeguards Level Up to Attend National Lifeguard School

Press Release

Nov 12, 2020

A dedicated team of Surf Lifeguards are about to become even more super when they hit the beaches for this season’s National Lifeguard School. This training will upskill them to Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s (SLSNZ) highest lifeguard qualification, The Advanced Lifeguard Award.

Twenty lifeguards from around the country will be learning about some of the more difficult and demanding emergency situations lifeguards can face, including mass rescue scenarios, search and rescue operations and working alongside other agencies including NZ Police, Fire service and St John in complex scenarios and technical rescues.

The school takes place from December 4-6 at Waihi Beach in the Coromandel, where candidates will be taught theory and practical skills, get the opportunity to run through acted scenarios, and tested physically and mentally to try to attain the Advanced Lifeguard Award. 

SLSNZ Education Development Lead, Belinda Slement, says there were a large number of applications this year. "The lifeguards selected to attend are the cream of the crop," she says. "They’re already out there saving lives on our beaches before they reach this school.”

Slement says the intensive and action-packed school gives lifeguards the chance to try the new skills and see how situations might play out, with expert instructors able to guide them and talk them through examples from actual rescues.

“This is the super-elite of our training. Around the country lifeguards get faced with a varied level of complex situations, and these advanced lifeguards will be skilled in how to direct their patrol members when challenging situations happen. These are the people selected from their clubs to learn the most technical skills and to put that to use in the most challenging situations when lives are on the line.

Candidates for this year’s National Lifeguard School are: