WEXFORD teams excelled at the National Surf Lifesaving Championships, which were held in Brittas Bay in Wicklow last weekend.

Spectators witnessed two full days of action on the sand and in the sea as the Wexford team battled with 23 other counties to carry out the swiftest, safest and best-controlled rescues.

The competition is structured into five age groups, Under-11, Under-14, Junior, Senior and Masters.

The event, which is run under the auspices of Irish Water Safety, was officially opened by Minister Dick Roche and the Chairperson of Irish Water Safety, Frank Nolan, on Saturday.

There are many disciplines involved in Surf Lifesaving but the main four are swimming rescues, rescue board races, surf ski races and beach sprints.

So lifeguards need not only to be strong swimmers, but they must also have the necessary skills to compete in other areas. Under the coaching and direction of Tracey Edwards and Lar O'Connor, the Wexford teams excelled in all areas.

The Under-11 squad of Martin Whelan, Dara O'Connor, Donnagh O'Connor, Thomas O'Connor and Ciaran Mahon all competed in excellent fashion for their first performances on the national lifesaving stage.

This team provided Wexford with a national title in the 'Nipper Boys' relay event, showing that they will be a force to be reckoned with in Irish Lifesaving in the future.

The Girls Under-11 squad of Denise Bolger, Lauren Carty, Lisa Bolger and Alice O'Leary all competed very well and also put in excellent performances in their first national championships.

The Under-14 boys squad of Ciaran Walsh, Jack Whelan, Jamie Carty, Rory Mahon, Conor O'Keeffe and Gavin Byrne have all got experience in National Lifesaving and put in very strong performances.

The girl's squad were also very successful, bringing a trawl of medals back to Wexford.

They secured second in the taplin, where Holly Kearns, Colleen Nolan, Madalina Craciun and Shauna Creane completed a relay using the rescue board, surf ski, swimming and running to capture silver for Wexford.

Holly also achieved a personal best in the board race, where she finished third, while Colleen returned home with two individual medals, one in the beach flags and one in the 90 metre sprint.

The Junior Men's team (Johnny Craciun and Thorna Johnson) and Junior Girls team (Rachel Creane, Fiona Sinnott, Niamh Allen, Sarah Ryan and Melissa Walsh) put in excellent performances, but were just knocked out of medal positions following remarkable performances from Clare, Wicklow, Galway and Donegal.

The Senior Men's team had a very tough challenge, competing against qualified Lifeguards who have served on beaches throughout Ireland and trained hard all summer long.

However, Christopher Creane, Ciaran Allen, Sam Dunlop Doyle, Ryan Kehoe and David Byrne have been competing with Wexford Water Safety for many years and their experience showed on the day.

Ciaran Allen provided the greatest success story on the day, claiming third in the beach sprint.

'The sport of surf lifesaving has evolved over the years but the disciplines stimulate lifeguard rescues and their aims are to improve the standards and maintain the fitness levels of the lifeguards,' said Wexford Water Safety's PRO Ruairi Farrell.

'Wexford team training is extremely tough, consisting of two hour sessions where members focus on their individual disciplines as well as core exercises such as swimming, running, board paddling and surf ski paddling.

'The club is based at Curracloe Beach, which has ideal conditions for the team's training needs. The club is expanding rapidly and new members are always welcome.'

- Conor CULLEN