CURRENT Australian Ironman and Ironwoman champions, Kenrick Louis (Manly) and Lana Rogers (Noosa Heads), two times Commonwealth Games silver medallist Brad Woodward (Shelly Beach/The Hills) and Kiama product Ali Day have been named in the 38-strong squad to represent Surf Life Saving Australia and Royal Life Saving for the 2018 International life saving calendar – which includes Life Saving World Championships 2018 (LWC2018) held in Adelaide from November 16 to December 2, 2018.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The announcement of the 2018 High-Performance Squad kicks off an exciting six months for coach Kurt Wilson and the national team.
34 athletes from the 2017 ALT High-Performance Squad return along with four athletes being rewarded for their 2018 seasons.
Talking about the squad selection coach Kurt Wilson said that it was important that the 2018 squad and the coaching structures surrounding these athletes continue to build on the platform that was developed last year.
“Our biggest strengths are the blend of experience with names like Harriet Brown (BMD Northcliffe), Shannon Eckstein (BMD Northcliffe) and Kendrick Louis and youth throughout the wider squad along with an extremely positive team-first culture that has formed throughout the Australian life saving team, Wilson said.
Max Brooks (Newport) and Lana Rogers are two of the fresh faces in the squad following stellar Ocean 6 Series results where both athletes finished with round six victories at North Cronulla and both also placed fourth overall in the KNG Ironman and Ironwoman Series respectively.
At the Australian Championships 2018 Brooks picked up three medals while Rogers finished with Ironwoman and Taplin Relay victories amongst other results.
Lani Pallister (Alexandra Headland) is another who has forced her way into the squad following scintillating results from Queensland State Titles and at 2018 Swimming Australia national age titles.
In the lead up to the World Championships, the Australian team will also head to Japan in June for the Sanyo Cup hosted in Fukuoka at Momochi Beach, where they will look to test their skills against rival nations New Zealand, Japan and South Africa aiming to retain the Cup for the 11th consecutive year.
A modified format of German Cup will be again being hosted in Warendorf, Germany, in September just eight weeks prior to LWC2018 serving as a key lead-in event for final preparations for the Australian team ahead of the World Championships in Adelaide.
The Australian Life Saving Team comprised of 12 athletes to represent this squad of athletes at Life Saving World Championships 2018 will be named Thursday, May 10.
The Australian Youth Life Saving Team will be named Thursday, May 17 of which is comprised of those athletes born following the turn of the 21st century.
Australian squad: Sam Bell, Matt Bevilacqua, Max Brooks, Harriet Brown, Ben Carberry, Daniel Collins, Prue Davies, Matt Davis, Ali Day, Blake, Drysdale, Maddy Dunn, Shannon Eckstein, Rachel Eddy, Elizabeth Forsyth, Chelsea Gillett, Ngaire Hadfield, Pamela Hendry, Mariah Jones, Nicole Kay, Kendrick Louis, Jake Lynch, Bree Masters, Jordan Mercer, Georgia Miller, Tom Montgomery, Lani Pallister, Matt Poole, Lana Rogers, Tijmarri Sanderson-Milera, Jemma Smith, Jake Smith, Jackson Symonds, Lizzie Welborn, Hayden White, Rachel Wood and Brad Woodward.
