Ahead of the official Opening Ceremony for the Lifesaving World Championships 2018 we met with Surf Life Saving SA President John Baker to check in with how “the World’s” have been progressing so far.
“The setup is fantastic, it has been one of the best set up World Championships events ever but also I think the way we have put the infrastructure in has rivalled the Australian Championships so we are very happy with the scale of the event and arenas” said Mr Baker.
Events kicked off last week with the Masters competition beginning in the pool at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre before moving to Glenelg beach on Monday.
Mr Baker said “Masters has been going really well, of course the weather hasn’t been ideal today but the competitors are enjoying it and the feedback has been really positive from all of the Masters and the pool has been exceptional”.
Teams from around the World and Clubs across Australia will congregate on Mosely Square before marching to the Champs Hub on the Glenelg foreshore. The Hon. Mr Steven Marshall Premier of South Australia will officially open the Championships and welcome the athletes to Adelaide.
“I am looking forward to the opening ceremony tonight with the march in of 44 teams from around the world and then we will all get together to celebrate the official opening of the championships” said Mr Baker.
The International Championship events begin on Thursday with the open and youth SERC competition. Event organisers are hoping for a tight contest and some exciting racing for spectators.
“The Europeans do very well in the pool, we are expecting strong performances from Italy, France and Germany and then when we look at the Beach and Ocean we Australia, South Africa and New Zealand should do better. We would expect that it will be between Australia and New Zealand for overall point score and the Championship win but we are hoping to see a close leader board with some new countries asserting themselves” said Mr Baker.