Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club has four volunteer lifeguards selected to represent South Africa at the World Lifesaving Championships in Italy from Tuesday September 20 to Sunday October 9.
The tour is self-funded and the club needs to raise R250 000 to cover the costs for flights, accommodation, local travel in Italy, event entry fees, team coaching, equipment hire and travel related to local training camps.
The club was established in 1958 as a public-benefit organisation, according to its chairman, Ernst Singe. “Lifesaving is unique in that you learn skills allowing you to serve your community and participate in a globally recognised sport,” he said.
Cheyne Haupt, 22, of Capri is a biokinetics intern and joined the club when he was 8 starting as a starfish and finally becoming club captain in 2017. He was selected for the junior South African surf lifesaving team, which competed at the International Surf Rescue Challenge in New Zealand.
Georgia Singe, 15, of Kommetjie attends Fish Hoek High School and has also been a club member since the age of 8.
Mark Allen Keeling, 24, of Fish Hoek is an engineer who says lifesaving was a life-changing sport for him.
Levi Mayes, 16, of Fish Hoek became a nipper at Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving when he was 12.
The club will host fund-raising events, including a nipper-coaching clinic today, Thursday June 16, and a surf-ski series with four races next month. It has also launched a BackaBuddy campaign at www.backabuddy.co.za/fish-hoek-surf-lifesaving-club.
