MORDIALLOC life saver Jemma Holt has been crowned one of the best junior life savers in the country.
Jemma Holt competed at the Royal Life Saving Society’s Australian Pool Lifesaving Championships last weekend. She finished first in the under 16s individual category, taking home the Joan Johannes Memorial Trophy.
Holt’s sister Paige also performed strongly. She finished second in the under 19s category.
Despite being aged just 15, Jemma Holt has accumulated 10 years of life saving experience. She said “I spent a lot of this winter training hard for pool lifesaving because COVID-19 meant a lot of pool lifesaving events were postponed or cancelled, so in Victoria we had a bit of catching up to do with the other states.”
“It was incredibly rewarding to perform so strongly at this year’s national championship events after the long gap between pool competitions in Victoria between the end of the 2019 season and the 2022 season,” she said. “I’ve continued this momentum in preparation for the 2023 championships and combining this with my training for the summer season which started in October.”
Fellow Mordialloc life saver Harrison Scurrah celebrated a second-place finish at the recent Surf Life Saving Australia Interstate Championships.
The event was held in New South Wales earlier this month. Scurrah finished second in the beach flags and third in the beach sprint events.
Despite his success, Scurrah has his sights set on getting better. “My goals for the season are to further improve my speed and strength in the flags and sprints, and to have a positive impact on my teammates and others around me,” he said.
“Training and competing in beach flags has helped my reaction times to incidents and sprinting has helped my speed and overall fitness, which helps me support my peers on the beach on patrol.”
Paige Holt and Jemma Holt also placed third in events at the competition. Mentone’s Ashton Roberts, Katie Gorvett-Page, and Lily Gorvett-Page received third place awards too.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 25 January 2023