Surf guards annual competition highlights skills and rescue techniques

The annual competition for P.E.I. National Park surf guards is being held Wednesday at Brackley Beach at 7 p.m.

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The event, which was was rescheduled from July, will featurerunning, swimming, paddling, simulated rescues with boards and cans, and demonstrations of surf guards skills.

Arja Page, visitor safety and fire coordinator for P.E.I. National Parks, said the competition has been happening for over 50 years,

"It's an opportunity for our surf guards to demonstrate their skills and to put on a show for any visitors that want to see them in action doing rescues and really just highlighting their rescue skills."

30 surf guards to take part

Page described the event as a beach Olympics for the surf guards.

"They'll do board rescues where the surf guards will go out into the water and they'll demonstrate saving victims and they have a competition to see who can be the most effective and the quickest."

There is of course bragging rights that go along with it. They're training all summer for this race.- Arja Page

Page said they also do a beach flag competition which is a relay race on land. The other event is the iron guard team relay where surf guards will swim around the area and do simulated rescues on the rescue boards.

The competition last for about 90 minutes and there will be 30 surf guards taking part.

Bragging rights

"They take it very seriously, there is of course bragging rights that go along with it. They're training all summer for this race."

The surf guards are divided into two teams to represent the senior guards against the junior surf guards in the National Park. The winners get bragging rights for the season.

"There's been a lot of friendly banter over the last few weeks," said Page.

But competition aside, Page said the surf guards working in the National Parks train to the national level and take their jobs very seriously.

"What this is is a nice friendly way for them to be able to showcase their skills and for people to come down and see what it looks like in a non-threatening, non-emergency situation."

Page said there has been one rescue conducted so far this season in the National Parks.

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