NUS THROWS A STRONG LIFELINE

- by Lo Tien Yen

Who do you call when you need a lifeline? The NUS lifesavers.

Started in 1983, there were about 30 lifesavers in teamNUS. Now the team has grown to more than 100 – out of which about 40 are beginning to shine in competitions.

In September last year, the team returned from the DHL Lifesaving Sports Challenge 2005 held in Penang, bagging two Golds, six Silvers and five Bronzes for both the pool and sea events.

LIFESAVERS ALL: The team at DHL Lifesaving Sports Challenge 2005.

Said Mr Sim Lye Hock from the Division of Sports and Recreation, Office of Student Affairs: “This is one sport where members stay on even way after they have left the University.”

Said Team Captain Mr Wong Fu Jie, a second-year Computer Engineering student: “Members usually stay on for life, because they want to maintain or improve their skills and techniques. We have about 30 alumni who are active in the team. The others are students from various faculties.”

Fu Jie took up lifesaving after he has mastered swimming when he was in Secondary Four. “I do make use of my skills in real life. In one case, a boy came down the slide and lost his footing when he entered the water. The water wasn’t deep, but the victim was disoriented and confused.”

The lifesavers at NUS train three times a week, increasing to almost every day when competition approaches. It’s a lot of running, swimming and dragging a 40kg mannequin across the waters. They also have to practise hooking a torpedo tube to a mannequin the correct way and in the shortest time possible.

Participating at the Penang Competition is good exposure for the team, said Mr Sim. It will help them gain exposure and experience to compete for a place in the national squad for international competitions such as the World Lifesaving Championships in Melbourne.

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