Saugeen Shores Lifesaving Club (SSLC) had an athlete represent Canada in Wales at the 2025 Commonwealth Lifesaving Championship.
After taking a few years off, Sydney has restarted training and competing with the Club and, when not in the pool or at the beach in Saugeen Shores, she can be found attending school at McGill University in Montreal.
Sydney competed in Lifesaving Pool Nationals, along with others from the Club, in Windsor (ON) in May, 2025. From there, she was selected as part of the Canadian National Team to compete at the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships in Swansea, Wales from July 10th-14th 2025.
In her competition, she placed 4th overall in the Female Development group and, in the individual events placed 4th in the 200M obstacle with a time of 2:23.49; 50M manikin carry placed 5th with a time of 40.08; 200M super lifesaver with a time of 2:49.69; 100M medley placed 3rd with a time of 1:19.7.
She was also a key swimmer in the team relays and placed in the top five for 200M obstacle relay placing 5th with a time of 2:05.62 and placed 3rd in the 200M medley relay with a time of 1:53.14 and in the 100M manikin carry relay placed 3rd with a time of 1:35.30 – setting a new Canadian Youth record.
The Canadian Coach Chantique Payne said that, “The championships have some of the fastest athletes in the world. Everyday we saw new Canadian records being broken and bringing us closer to the high standard of the Commonwealth. Sydney herself was an integral part of the record breaking 4X25 manikin-carry relay. This is just the start of what should be a great lifesaving sport career!”
Sydney and her fellow teammates from Saugeen Shores Lifesaving Club were at the Port Elgin main beach on August 11th and Southampton beach on August 12th for the Lifesaving Provincial Waterfront competition.
Eight clubs from across Ontario were represented at the two-day competition.
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The competition featured three gruelling rounds of the Oceanman/Oceanwoman event, widely regarded as the toughest surf event in lifesaving sport. This multi-discipline race includes swimming, board paddling, and surf-ski racing in open water conditions, demanding peak physical and mental performance from every athlete.
Representing Saugeen Shores were Izzy Speiran and River Saliba. Their dedication and training paid off in dramatic fashion:
- Izzy Speiran emerged victorious, claiming 1st place in the women’s division
- River Saliba delivered a strong performance in a highly competitive field, finishing 11th in the men’s division.
Sydney, Izzy and River will also be competing at the Canadian Surf Lifesaving Championship with 16 fellow SSLC athletes in Nova Scotia August 22nd – 24th (2025).
