Current four world title holder “Zara Williams” was invited by the Italian Life Saving Federation to Rome’s to compete in their magnificent Olympic outdoor Pool so that she could defend her two Italian titles held since 2017. The magnificent pool complex comprises both indoor and outdoor Olympic pools, with additional outdoor diving pit and 25m pool, so it’s of no surprise the Italians are currently ranked as Europe’s number one when it comes to pool lifesaving competition, making Zara’s victories all the more special.
Representing the Crawley Town Life Saving Club, Zara easily won the Ladies 50m Manikin Carry in a time of 33.93 seconds which was just over a second quicker than her nearest rival. While Zara was a little disappointed with her time, consideration needs to be given to the hot, humid condition and subsequent warm pool water, a pool depth of 2.2m along with her final being delayed by 30 minutes late into the evening due to a heavy rain storm. The following day Zara repeated her performance in the 100m Rescue Medley when again winning by over a second in a time of 70.71 seconds. This demanding event requires athletes to sprint 50ms, before turning to swim 17.5m underwater to collect a manikin from the bottom and carry it the remaining 32.5m to the pool end.
Zara will be returning to Italy in September to race in one of her favourite pools in the Adriatic coastal resort of Riccione at the European National and Club team championships which is being used as a warm-up for next year’s World Life Saving Championships Rescue 2020 at which Zara will be defending her four titles while trying to regain her World Record.
Zara can be seen preparing for these Championships with the Crawley Town Life Saving Club most Tuesday nights at Crawley’s K2 Sports Centre 50m pool between 9 and 10 pm.
Gary
CTLSC Competition Manager
01293 544324 (B)