After a particularly hard day in the pool, Boksburg Aquatic Saints Swimming and Lifesaving Club member and Leeuwenhof Akademie learner Jordan Hughes (16) decided that swimming just wasn\u2019t for her.<\/p>\n
Little did she know that she would be back in the pool taking on a new challenge, lifesaving.<\/p>
\u201cAfter a really hard training session, I wasn\u2019t sure if swimming was for me anymore and wanted to give up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile getting hot chocolate my mom mentioned my decision to one of the club\u2019s members who suggested instead of leaving the pool completely, I should try lifesaving as her children were doing it and loved it,\u201d explained Jordan.<\/p>
Jordan had second thoughts but gave lifesaving a chance and hasn\u2019t looked back.<\/p>\n
Thanks to this love and dedication the Parkhill Gardens resident was recently named as a member of the Gauteng Lifesaving High-Performance Squad, which she qualified for by first achieving and then maintaining South African qualifying times.<\/p>\n
This is in addition to her participation in the South African National Lifesaving Championships in Port Elizabeth, in April.<\/p>\n
Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid.<\/p>\n
It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue. However, it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical services.<\/p>\n
On top of all this lifesaving is also a sport where lifesavers compete based on skills, speed and teamwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still not completely sure what it is about lifesaving that I love but I love it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think its biggest appeal is that it is something completely different.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile everyone is doing running or netball, I am doing lifesaving,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When asked which of the different events in lifesaving, she enjoys most, she said with a smile, \u201cI love the super lifesaving event, which is everything in one event.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a nutshell, you start the event with a 50m swim followed by 25m swim, where you retrieve a sunken manikin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou then swim another 25m with your manikin and then drop it at the edge of the pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou then grab your fins and your tube, sprint to the other side of the pool while putting your fins on, where you retrieve another manikin, this time by clipping it with your tube before finally racing back to the finish,\u201d Jordan explained.<\/p>\n
This event takes a lot of training, with a special focus on putting on the fins and clipping the manikin smoothly and seamlessly, and breathing properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very technical and it is amazing to watch how quickly the children, through training, are able to put on their fins and retrieve their manikins,\u201d said Jordan\u2019s mom, Melanie.<\/p>\n
Lifesaving takes continual hard work, with Jordan taking to the pool for four hours at least three times a week.<\/p>\n
She also works on weekends to earn the hours she needs as part of her lifesaving qualifications.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think having to plan my time and make sure that I am able to fit everything in will really help me when I am older and in the \u2018real world\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also appreciate my down time more, but know that if I am tired after an outing with my friend I will still have to train,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Jordan is working hard for the South African National Lifesaving Championships, where she hopes to qualify for the national lifesaving squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe national squad will travel to the Netherlands, so I am really aiming at making the team, I would love to go overseas,\u201d said Jordan.<\/p>\n
Her passion for lifesaving is contagious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really encourage anyone looking for something different and a challenge to give lifesaving a try,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n
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