22/12/2017

In a week that has already seen Birmingham announced as the hosts of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) are excited to announce that the RLSS Commonwealth has chosen RLSS UK, to host the 2019 Festival of Lifesaving!

The announcement has been met with great delight by all those involved, particularly those who represented the home nations earlier this year in Durban, South Africa.

Di Steer CEO RLSS UK said: “We are very proud to be chosen as hosts for the Commonwealth Festival of Lifesaving, as it makes a welcome return to the UK. It is a massive coup for us.”

The UK has previously hosted the Commonwealth Championships several times throughout the 90s and early 00s, and RLSS UK are thrilled to have the new-look event, heading back here in 2019.

“We’ll hit the ground running in 2018 to ensure that we, as a governing body, deliver a festival to remember!” added Ian Hutchings, RLSS UK President.

The festival aims to encourage participation in lifesaving sport and further development of lifesaving practices, as well as bringing the lifesaving family together. In addition to the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships, the 2019 event will also include an individual skill element and a non-competitive sports section.

“I am delighted to hear that the UK has been awarded the 2019 Festival of Lifesaving. It is over 10 years since this prestigious event was last held in the UK and it will be a great opportunity to welcome lifesaving colleagues from around the Commonwealth, to share their experiences with a new generation of lifesavers.”

Sheena Harper – Sports Governance Group

“It is fantastic news to hear that the UK will be hosting the Commonwealth Festival of Lifesaving in 2019. After attending the 2017 festival earlier this year in South Africa as Team Manager for England I found it a really successful, highly competitive and enjoyable competition for everybody.

Hosting the event will hopefully mean that we will have full teams from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will also give the RLSS UK Performance Programme a new target to work towards – I expect a lot of athletes from the Performance Programme will be capable of representing their home nations.”

Matt Jagger – Performance Director and England Team Manager

“Looking forward to hosting the Commonwealth Championships and Festival of Lifesaving in 2019, once again working with all our friends from the Commonwealth countries.”

Elaine Lewis – National Organiser, College of Referees

More event details will follow in the new year and can be found on: rlsscommonwealth.org