The Warmun swimming pool was recently jointly opened by Jenny Macklin Commonwealth Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Michelle Roberts State Minister for Housing and Works, Indigenous Affairs, Heritage and Land Information.
Royal Life Saving is responsible for managing this pool along with four other pools in Remote Aboriginal Communities throughout the Pilbara, Gascoyne and Kimberley regions. Through the provision of a safe aquatic environment and the delivery of innovative swimming and life saving programs Royal Life Saving has been able to deliver many benefits to local community members.
These include improvements in children’s health such as reduced incidence of ear and skin infection, due to the antiseptic effect provided by the sanitised pool water. Increases in school attendance rates due to the introduction of the no pool no school policy and decreases in antisocial behaviour have been observed.
Royal Life Saving look forward to working closely with the Warmun Community to make sure that the benefits experienced in our other pools are replicated in Warmun.
APRIL, 2008
Keep Watch Update April 2008
Brenden Koh and Lauren Nimmo from RLSSWA’s Community Health Department have recently returned from a three day regional trip to the state’s South West region. They conducted three child safety forums with interested parents and held professional development sessions with child health nurses servicing the Manjimup, Bridgetown, Pemberton and Northcliffe areas. This trip was held in collaboration with Kidsafe WA and Farmsafe Alliance WA and was very successful in promoting toddler drowning prevention and child safety to professionals, parents and carers in the region.
Plans are ‘in the pipeline’ to hold another child safety forum and professional development later in ’08 in the Pilbarra region.
If you have any questions or need resources regarding the Keep Watch program, please email Brenden, bkoh@rlsswa.com.au or phone 9383 8200.
APRIL, 2008
Watch Around Water Update 2008
The Watch Around Water program has had a very successful 2007- 2008 summer campaign with membership of new pools growing within the state and interstate, with the pilot program in SA coming to an end and Lifesaving Victoria coming on board with the program. The program is Royal Life Saving Society’s (WA Branch) and the Leisure Institute of Western Australia's guardian supervision program, aimed at increasing parental supervision at public aquatic facilities, taking pressure off pool lifeguards enabling them to do their job more effectively.
Lauren Nimmo and James Stewart from RLSSWA’s Community Health Department have recently returned from a four day regional Wheat belt visit. From the 17th to the 20th of March nine Watch Around Water pools were visited, including Koorda, Merriden, Bruce Rock, Corrigin, Kondinin, Hyden, Lake Grace, Narrogin, and Wundowie. RLS also visited two new pools, Moora and Northam, which is great news for the program. Thankyou to all the above pools for their feedback and support of the Watch Around Water program. From this trip a number of new and exiting ideas emerged that will be introduced to the program for next summer season.
The campaign, now in it’s forth year, is preparing for a re-vamp. In preparation for the 2008-2009 season a number of new resources have been developed and are currently being produced including brand new poster designs, and ‘out of the box’ stickers and promotional resources. This has been a direct result from feedback from registered WAW pools, and the recent regional trip- it’s fantastic to gather so many ideas to ensure the program is driven by the needs of the industry. If you would like more information on these resources or becoming a registered pool please email James (jstewart@rlsswa.com.au).
MARCH, 2008
New pool inspection contracts announced
The Society is pleased to announce that it has recently been awarded the contracts to conduct pool barrier compliance inspections of all private swimming pools within the Shire of Kalamunda and the City of Swan. The Society has acted in this capacity for both Kalamunda and Swan in the past and looks forward to inspecting over 10,000 pools under the new agreements.
Since 1991, the Society has provided a national leadership role in recognising that children under 5 are over-represented in State and National drowning statistics, and has developed strategies and resources to raise the awareness of children under 5 drowning. Drowning prevention is the central purpose of maintaining effective barriers between the pool and the child and for this reason the Society is proud to play a role in maintaining barrier compliance within Western Australia.
MARCH, 2008
New Swimming & Lifesaving Club
Congratulations go to the Newman/Churchlands Swimming Club that has now also become a RLSS Swimming & Lifesaving Club (as well as a current Endorsed Swim School). The Club is located in the grounds of Newman College in Churchlands and operates all year round with a summer emphasis.
Carly from RLSS has recently conducted a Lifesaving Sport development session to gauge interest within the club and had a remarkable 60 participants attend.
RLSS looks forward to assisting the new Swimming & Lifesaving Club get involved in the Junior Lifeguard Club and Pool Lifesaving that includes the carnivals and lifesaving sport development sessions later this year.
If any other Swim Clubs would like to get involved in Pool Lifesaving please contact Carly at Royal Life Saving
MARCH, 2008
Greg McLennan receives Sport Volunteer of the Year.
Greg McLennan from Western Australia was named 2007 Sport Volunteer of the Year for his outstanding contribution to Royal Life Saving at state, national and international levels. Greg has been a volunteer in lifesaving all his life from club level activities such as instructing and competing. Since 1990 more senior roles include Board member of Royal Life Saving Western Australia, National Sports Committee member and National Director of Sport. He is the Australian representative on International Lifesaving panels and has taken a lead role in the coordination and presentation of the World Lifesaving Championships since 1998. "Volunteering can provide opportunities to people to make a difference at the executive level in national and international organisations that are not afforded in the workplace. It can grow you as a person," said Greg McLennan. "Personally, it is an overwhelming honour to receive such a national award. I also consider it an honour to be associated with a great organisation, that is, Royal Life Saving. They have been incredibly supportive and for over 115 years have been doing great things in water safety," said Greg McLennan.
"Greg has been hugely generous with his time over many years and has offered vital assistance in the development and promotion of Royal Life Saving at state, national and international levels. In his role as chair of the Commonwealth RLS Sport Committee Greg has played an integral role in building the Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Championship into a significant international event," said Shayne Baker, National President Royal Life Saving.
JANUARY, 2008
New RLSSWA projects and staff
Royal Life Saving welcomes Mia Zic on being accepted to the position of Swim & Survive Project Officer and a new member of the RLSS team.
Mia will be co-ordinating two new projects for the Swim & Survive Department, the women’s only Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) swimming and water safety education program in the Perth Northern Suburbs as well as the Aboriginal swimming and water safety education program within the town of Kwinana.
Both projects aim to increase physical activity levels amongst non-active CALD and Aboriginal community members, by means of providing culturally appropriate swimming and water safety programs to the wider community.
Welcome aboard Mia, she can be contacted on mzic@rlsswa.com.au or 9383 8200.
JANUARY, 2008
Pool Lifeguard Challenge
The 2007 Pool Lifeguard Challenge was recently held at Challenge Stadium.
Teams were selected from around the Perth metropolitan area to test their skills and learn from their colleagues. The teams represented:
• Bayswater Waves
• Beatty Park Aquatic
• Craigie Leisure
• Fremantle Aquatic
• Kwinana Recquatic
• Mandurah Aquatic
• Melville Aquatic
• Swan Park Leisure
The challenge consisted of 3 events including a gruelling initiative in which the team of lifeguards had to deal with a scenario of multiple casualties. Teams were judged by trainers from Royal Life Saving and LIWA. The other two events combined swimming and rescue skills in team (relay) and individual (super lifesaver) formats.
The Minister for Local Government, Ljiljanna Ravlich MLA presented the trophies to the winning team from Fremantle Leisure Centre. The team from Fremantle, captained by Jodie Thomson, narrowly edged out the Beatty Park team in second place and previous winners Bayswater Waves who secured third place.
The camaraderie and support between teams was outstanding. Feedback on the format of the events was positive and teams are already looking forward to next year. The most significant outcome of the Challenge was the opportunity to test skills and learn from others in the industry.
Local government representatives (CEO’s and Councillors) also attended the Challenge as spectators. It gave them the insight into work of a lifeguard and the critical role they play.
The 2007 Lifeguard Challenge was supported by WALGA, LIWA and Challenge Stadium and presented by Royal Life Saving. If you would like further details on the Challenge or plans for the 2008 event contact Hugh Singe from Royal Life Saving at hsinge@rlsswa.com.au
