HBF Arena team wins Lifeguard Challenge two years running

The Lifeguard team from HBF Arena recently took out top honours in the 2019 Pool Lifeguard Challenge, successfully defending their 2018 title.

Hosted by Royal Life Saving WA and the Leisure Institute of WA, the Lifeguard Challenge tests the skills of those involved and provides an opportunity for continual improvement for professional lifeguard teams throughout Western Australia.

21 teams competed in the challenge, including two from HBF Arena.

The winning team, HBF Arena Team 1, consisted of Leigha Wood, Paolo da Silva and returning members Lewis Downes and Kieren Lawrenson. The second HBF Arena team of Anna Jamieson, James Claxton, Arnold Buys and Brooke Taylor also performed well.

Participants are challenged across all aspects of being a pool lifeguard such as observation, teamwork, fitness and first aid and resuscitation skills.

As owner and manager of HBF Arena, VenuesWest CEO David Etherton was delighted with the result, “We’ve always prided ourselves on having high quality staff, including our lifeguards. It’s great for VenuesWest and our lifeguards to have their outstanding skills and experience formally recognised.”

“I take my young children to swim at HBF Arena and always have every confidence in the lifeguards on duty.”

“Thank you to Royal Life Saving WA for providing this essential annual event, helping to ensure safer pools for the community of Western Australia.”

Winning HBF Arena team captain Kieren Lawrenson has been working as a lifeguard at HBF Arena since October 2016 and is a familiar face to regular visitors to the venue. Kieren is one of two team members to return to defend their title. “We were delighted to win last year and knew it would be tough to win two in a row. I’m proud of the team, who have dedicated lots of their free time to train for this event.”

Kieren is no stranger to aquatic competition, having successfully competed in several long distance open water swims. He is a previous solo winner of the Port to Pub Rottnest swim as well as gaining second place in the 2018 Swim the Arctic race from Finland to Sweden.

VenuesWest delivers world class sport and entertainment experiences across its portfolio of thirteen venues and is a proud supporter of Western Australia’s high performance athletes.