Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Championships

The first official event took place in Eastbourne, England during the month of May. The event took place at the Sovereign Centre, a 33.3m pool 3'6" at the shallow end and 6'6" at the deep end. A total of 10 nations attended the event, including: Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, South Africa, Wales, Mauritius, Uganda, Jersey and Scotland. The events at this competition differed to the subsequent championships, which all took place in 50m pools. Prince Michael of Kent met all competitors at a reception meeting during the opening ceremony at the Eastbourne Hotel. Competitors later travelled to Buckingham Palace for an official reception.

The second championships were held in Durban, South Africa from the 2nd to 4 July 2003. Amongst the competitors were teams from Hong Kong, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Guernsey, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Sri Lanka and Lesotho. This event took place at the Kings Park Pool and was the first Commonwealth Championship to take place in a 50m pool.

The third championships were held by the Royal Life Saving Society UK for the second time, this time in Bath, Somerset, England from 24 September to 29 September 2006. For the third year in a row, Australia won the National Team competition. This championships saw the introduction of the Development teams competition.

The 2009 Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Championships took place in Edmonton, Canada.

The Conference took place between the 9th of June and the 11th of June, with the Championships taking place between the 12th and the 14th of June.

The venue of the Championships was The Kinsmen Sports Center. The Kinsmen Sports Centre is one of the world's finest fitness and recreation facilities. Located in Edmonton's beautiful river valley, the centre offers facilities for many sports. It is owned and operated by the City of Edmonton. This swimming complex was built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games. The facility was upgraded in 1998 and again in 2006. It has hosted major sport events including international water polo championships, the 1983 University Games and World Cup Swimming from 1998 to 2001.

Competition pool: 10 lanes, 50m long x 25m wide with a depth of 2 to 2.3m.

The Alberta and Northern Territories Branch of The Lifesaving Society, Canada hosted this Championships.

The 2011 Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships took place in Durban, South Africa from 27 September to 1 October 2011. The event took place at the Kings Park Pool. The John Long Trophy was introduced at this competition. It is awarded to first place team in the Development Team competition. [1]

The 2013 Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships was held in Canberra, Australia from 4 September to 8 September 2013. The RLSSA hosted the event which took place at the Australian Institute of Sport. Athletes stayed on the compound leading up to the meet. The championships reception was held at Parliament House.[2][3]

The Royal Life Saving Society – Commonwealth Drowning Prevention announced the Commonwealth Festival Of Lifesaving would take place in South Africa in 2017. The Festival ran from 8 to 12 August 2017 at the King’s Park Swimming Complex, Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The 100m Rescue Medley, 200m Obstacles and 4x50m Obstacle relay, Line Throw and Team SERC were removed from the competition, and Aquatic SERC, Dry SERC (Resuscitation), 12.5 m Line Throw, 100m Lifesaving Medley Swim and 50m Swim and Non-Contact Tow were added.

The Royal Lifesaving Society UK hosted the 2019 edition of the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships (again under the banner of ‘Festival of Lifesaving’). The event took place at the John Charles Centre for Sport, in Leeds, England. The opening and closing ceremony were held at the South Leeds Stadium, home of the Hunslet Hawks Rugby League team.

The event took the same format at the 2017 edition. The competition took place over 3 days, without 200m Obstacle swim, obstacle relay, rescue medley, team SERC or line throw.