ILS NEWS
INTERNATIONAL LIFE SAVING FEDERATION
Gemeenteplein 26 – 3010 Leuven – Belgium
Tel: (32.16) 35.35.00 – Fax: (32.16) 35.01.02
E-mail:
Web1:
ILS NEWS (2000/6)

Introduction

In the name of Alan B. Whelpton AM, ILS President and the entire Board of Directors we wish all ILS Members a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. We hope drowning statistics will drop next year and wish you all the best in your endeavours. We thank you above all for your dedication to lifesaving and the saving of human life of the aquatic environment. We thank you for your valuable input that allows ILS to grow.

Best wishes to all from the ILS-HQ

The ILS Headquarters were overloaded with very nice wishes by over 600 individuals and organisations.

On behalf of the entire staff we wish you all the very best in 2001. Let the year 2001 be a year of consolidation and of enhancement between the ILS Headquarters and you. We will issue regularly newsletters to inform you on lifesaving. Help us by mailing us the information you have and you want to share.

New addresses

The Associação de Nadadores Salvadores (The Portuguese Lifesaving Association) (ASNASA) informs us that they have a new e-mail address: .

The same applies to Greg McLennan: his new e-mail address is:

.

Changes in the Surf Lifesaving Association of Great Britain

We have been informed by Great Britain Surf Lifesaving Association that Ian Bowen and Anthea Thomas have been removed as Directors from SLS-GB, with the request to also remove them from yours and all ILS mailing lists. We welcome Mike Jones who joined the association as Deputy Director. He edits the local magazine and will communicate Great Britain news to the ILS Newsletter. Welcome aboard, Mike.

Australia starts to gear up for the Goodwill Games

The 2001 Goodwill Games will be held from the 29th of August to the 9th of September in Brisbane and this marks the first time ever that it will be staged outside of the United States or the USSR since it was first hosted in Moscow in 1986. The last Games were held in New York in 1998.

There are 14 sports on the programme which includes: artistic gymnastics, athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, surf lifesaving, swimming, trampoline, triathlon and weightlifting.

The host broadcaster is Turner Broadcasting System, a division of CNN and owned by Time Warner. They have sold the rights to the national rights holder in Australia which is the 9 Network, they are in the market place at the moment to a number of other potential telecasters or broadcasting stations around the world for both live footage, packaged footage and tape delayed footage.

Larger Olympic role foreseen for new media

The Internet and other new media will continue to play an ever-growing role in the interaction between the Olympic Movement and its publics. The IOC stated, however, which media are applied, how, and at what rate will depend on the development of technologies that allow the IOC to sustain the financial viability of the Olympic Movement and the Games themselves. This prediction came out of the two-way IOC World Conference on Sport and New Media Conference that brought together over 700 leaders in sport business and administration and experts in traditional and new media from which the ILS President and Secretary General were part of. The conference studied the increasing impact of emerging media on the sports world.

The IOC already successfully uses Internet and other new media. The IOC last year launched an Extranet to allow the 200 National Olympic Committees to access information and cross-fertilize ideas and practices. The IOC uses the Internet to provide virtual tours of the Olympic Museum’s exhibits. More people visited the Museum over the Internet last year than did so in person.

The IOC website:

Asia-Pacific Regional Development Activities

Life Saving Federations within the Asia Pacific Region have been extremely active during 2000. Development assistance has been provided to new and prospective ILS members including India, Sri Lanka, Fiji and China.

INDIA

The RLSS continued to assist the Rashtriya Life Saving Society through the work of Heather McGowan and Tom Ballantyne. They conducted six Lifeguard training courses in Pune, Vishakhapatnam and Delhi.

CHINA

The Hong Kong Life Saving Society continues to assist the development of life saving in China. The second National Life Saving (Stillwater) Championships were conducted in Shanghai on 2-3 September 2000, with 130 lifesavers and 14 provinces represented.

The Chinese Life Saving Association is awaiting approval from the Chinese Ministry of Sport to join ILS as a Full Member.

HONG KONG

The Hong Kong Life Saving Society is intending to organise a lifeguard workshop for pool and beach rescue techniques in 2001 targeting China, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.

TAIWAN

Over 3.500 volunteers lifeguards were trained during the 1999-2000 period. A major promotion of lifesaving was conducted in 10 regional areas of Taiwan.

OTHERS

Life Saving development activities were also conducted in Indonesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Bali, Singapore and Iran.

Lifesaving is included in more and more Games

We have the pleasure to announce that lifesaving sport is included in the sports list to be considered for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. If we succeed, it will mean that lifesaving will be included in six Games in total. Lifesaving is nowadays included in: the World Games, the Goodwill Games, the Masters Games, the Military World Games and the Arafura Games.

Olympic Games: Athens 2004

The IOC Executive Board met on 13/12/2000 to review the requests of Olympic and Recognised Federations for amendments to the programme of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The considerations of the large numbers of requests for additional sports on the Olympic programme received from Recognised Federations (14 in total) was balanced by the very clear challenges the IOC is currently faced with, in particular the following:

  • Reducing the number of athletes from the 10.960 entered and accredited in Sydney 2000 to the total of 10.000 as defined in the Olympic Charter.
  • Reducing the numbers of events from the 300 currently in the Olympic Programme.
  • Concerns regarding the cost and operational impact of new sports upon the organising committee of the Olympic Games (additional venues, logistical complications, athlete support services, technical official numbers, media services, etc.).
  • The existing construction and infrastructure challenges of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

With these challenges in mind, the IOC Executive Board decided that no new sports would be admitted to the programme of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

As always, the IOC commits itself to the continual development of the Olympic programme, and therefore this decision does not relate to Olympic Games beyond 2004. In this regard, the IOC welcomes the requested additions from Recognised Federations as a clear indication of the desire to continue to develop the standard, raise the profile and encourage participation in the respective sports.

Iran

H.E. Mr. Seyed Mostafa Mirsalim - the ILS’ Patron and President of the Life Saving Federation of I.R. of Iran, visited the ILS Headquarters in September. He was shown the ILS library, documents and records and the international communication centre and then after negotiating with the ILS Secretary General, he was shown the monuments of the city as well as the Physical Education Faculty of Leuven, specifically the biomechanics swimming laboratory of Prof. U. Persyn.

Iran

The Life Saving Federation of I.R. of Iran is focussing on efforts to promote life saving and sport in the region during the past years by holding some life saving and hydrotherapy courses in Syria and for the first time managing sea life saving competition in the Middle-East in late of September at the Caspian Sea.

The lifesaving federation of Iran is inviting national teams from Arab countries to take part in this competition, which is free of charge and will also be conducted during the next summer.

Beach Flags in Iran

Belgium

We have the good news to announce that the Ministry of sports in Belgium approved the following World Games sports as Top sports: roller-skating, water-ski, lifesaving, squash and korfball. Only 20 federations receive this high status based on their work, medals, media attention, sports technical input,.... It is certainly a fantastic financial boost for lifesaving in Belgium to be on that list. The additional monies that can be expected because of that recognition are very high. It is also nice to see that already 5 sports from the World Games programme (25 %) are within the group of 20. The other 15 are sports on the Olympic programme.

Australia - Surf

The Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) Competition Manual (31st Edition) has been released.

The source document is the electronic version located on the web site of Surf Life Saving Australia ( The electronic version shall be SLSA’s authorised reference document and will be kept up to date in terms of authorised amendments.

A paper based edition is also being published and shall be available for sale through Surf Trade. SLSA Bulletins may, when SLSA considers necessary, be issued in accordance with the SLSA constitution to supplement the paper-based publiccation.

ILS Calendar

The new ILS Calendar is added to this Newsletter. Please keep us up to date with the calendar of your organisation.

Ireland

We received the following information from the Irish Water Safety Association.

Address: The Long Walk - Galway - Ireland

Tel: (353)(91) 56.44.00

Fax: (353)(91) 56.47.00

Web:

E-mail:

Chairman: Frank J. Nolan

CEO: Paul Donovan

Office Manager: Patricia Quinn

Marketing Executive: Roger Sweeney

Council Members: Jim Mawlor, Kathryn Byrne, Michael Murphy, Brendan McGrath, Breda Collins, Breda Doherty, Martin O'Sullivan, Paddy Phipps, Michael Cuddihy, Ian Keating and Ann McGuinness.

World Games

The updated version of the website of the Organising Committee for the World Games 2001 Akita is:

file://

Help

It is the intention of the ILS Headquarters to compile an address booklet on computer of all people that are linked to lifesaving and that are in the possession of an e-mail address. Please give your e-mail address so that we can mail you directly the info and fresh news.

Transfer your e-mail address and those of your delegation members to:

Water safety is a shared responsibility

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ILS: the Worldwide movement against drowning is anxious to count as many members as possible. One of the main aims of ILS is the fight against drowning, and this has no frontiers. Alan Whelpton, President is asking to all actual member countries and to all lifesaving friends to send to the Secretary General the addresses of known lifesaving federations/associations/ organisations, which are not yet in contact with ILS.

Look for a new member of ILS, contact your neighbour country.

How to become member of ILS?

An association willing to become member is invited to send the following to the Secretary General:

1.A letter with an official request to become member and with the specification of the membership category (Full, Associate or Corresponding).

2.The official name of the association, with full address, telephone and telefax numbers.

3.The name address (+ tel + fax) of the President, Chairman, Secretary General and Board Members.

4.A copy of the statutes (constitution) and of the Bye-Laws (Regulation of Procedures) of the association.

5.A brief description of the association and a short historical overview.

6.A good copy of the logo (in black and white and in colours).

Once the six points above will be received, the procedure will be started by ILS and the requests will be studied by the ILS Board of Directors. Make us bigger.

Newsletter compiled by

Dr. Harald Vervaecke - Secretary General

Ruth Masuy - Executive Assistant

Inge Moerman - Executive Assistant