Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, including New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Surf lifesavers in Australia are colloquially known as "Clubbies".
Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.
Daniel Steven Kowalski is an Australian former middle- and long-distance swimmer specialising in freestyle events. He competed in the Olympic Games in 200-, 400- and 1,500-metre individual freestyle events and in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he was the first man in 92 years to earn medals in all of the 200-, 400- and 1500-metre freestyle events. Kowalski, alongside Livinia Nixon, hosted the short-lived TV show Plucka's Place in 1997. Kowalski is perhaps best known for having been a perpetual runner-up to fellow Australians Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett, who were, respectively, the world's best 1500-metre freestyle competitors during the earlier and later parts of Kowalski's career. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Daniel's coaches included Denis Cotterell and Bill Nelson.
Steven Sean Ferguson is a sprint canoeist, surf lifesaver and former swimmer from New Zealand.
Graeme Thomas Brewer is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the late 1970s and early 1980s who won a bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In all he won 13 Australian titles.
The sport of Ironman was developed in 1964 in Australia by Valentine Trainor to combine the four main disciplines of surf lifesaving into a single race; swimming, board paddling, ski paddling and running. The sport should not be confused with Ironman triathlon. It is typically run as a single event as a part of a surf life saving carnival, although it can be run as a sport in its own right. Internationally it is sometimes called Oceanman.
The Manly Life Saving Club is one of Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs, founded in 1911; located in the Sydney suburb of Manly, in the Northern Beaches Council in New South Wales.
Oussama "Ous" Mellouli is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the University of Southern California, where he studied as a computer science undergraduate and swam collegiately.
Cory Francis Hutchings is a former world surf lifesaving Ironman champion from Gisborne, New Zealand. Hutchings was born in Gisborne to a family of passionate sportspeople. His father Ben was the coach of the New Zealand men's canoeing team who won gold in four events at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cory's involvement in surf lifesaving begun at age five.
Brent Foster is an athlete from New Zealand. As a swimmer and triathlete he has taken part in surf lifesaving and Ironman competitions and represented his country at the Commonwealth Games.
Clint David Robinson, OAM, born 27 July 1972, is an Australian sprint kayaker and surf lifesaver. He won three medals at the Summer Olympics: gold in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, silver in the K-2 500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and bronze in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
John Flanagan is a male freestyle swimmer from the United States who specialized in middle distance and Open water distance events. He swam for Honolulu's exceptional Punhou School Swim Team where he was a three-time state champion in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle. After swimming for Auburn University, he won a 5 Km gold team medal at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia. He competed in and placed well in a number of USA Swimming National Championships through 2001, winning a 10 Km event at Daytona Beach in 2001, and receiving several second places in 5 Km events. In 2000, he won Hawaii's Surf and Sea North Shore Challenge, and was a five-time winner of the Waikiki Roughwater Challenge. In July 2010, he placed fourth in the 10 Km swim at the World Competitions in Fukuoka, Japan with a time of 2:01:6.5. He would later compete professionally in triathlon and in 2001 work as a swim coach at Kamehameha Swim Club in Honolulu.
The Uncle Tobys Super Series was a professional Australian Iron Man circuit that ran from 1989 to 2001. It was considered by many to be the pinnacle of Surf Lifesaving and inspired many young kids to become involved in the sport. It also made the sport professional and gave the opportunity for contracted competitors to make a full-time living from the sport.
Allan Lopes Mamédio do Carmo is a Brazilian swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. He is considered one of the fastest professional open water swimmers in the world, finishing near the top of FINA World Cup races for the 10 km marathon. He also won a bronze medal for his category at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Daniel McLellan is a surf swimmer and life saving competitor who represented Australia on nine occasions during the 1990s. He has won numerous Australian titles and has saved many unexpected lives over his years of profession and non professional Surf Life Saving Australia) participation and competed in Kellogg's Surf League. He also represented Australia at the World Life Saving Championships and World Interclub Championships.
Ashley Grace Twichell is an American competition swimmer who specializes in long-distance freestyle and open-water events. She placed seventh in the 10 kilometer open water swim at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Twichell's age at her Olympic Games debut, 32 years of age, made her the oldest American swimmer first-timer at an Olympic Games since 1908.
The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships known as The Aussies is the national Surf lifesaving championships for Australia. It is the largest surf lifesaving event in Australia and the largest event of its kind in the world. It is organised by Surf Life Saving Australia, and had been held annually since 1915.
Jordan Matthew Wilimovsky is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in open water swimming. At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wilimovsky won the gold medal in the 10 km open water event. Wilimovsky won by a margin of 12.1 seconds over the second-place finisher Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wilimovsky competed in both pool swimming and open water swimming events, becoming the first American to swim in both types of events at one Olympic Games.
Kane Radford is a New Zealand swimmer. He is New Zealand's first Olympic open water swimmer.
Nicholas Sloman is an Australian open water swimmer. He is a six-time medalist at FINA Marathon Swim World Series, winning a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2019 edition and three silver medals and one bronze medal at the 2022 edition. At the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, he won the bronze medal in the 10 kilometre open water swim.
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