There will be teams entering from clubs and local authorities from all over the North East. You don't need to be an elite athlete or super-fit to take part in the competition-the only pre-requisite is that you are 16 years of age or over and hold a valid current beach lifeguard qualification.

For those of you who have never been to a beach lifeguard competition before, the competition is split in to four events. These are as follows:

• Beach Flags (Two members of the team)
• Rope Throw (Remaining two members of the team)
• Unconscious casualty rescue (All members of the team-1 casualty, 1 rescuer, 2 supporting team members)
• Run, swim, run (All members of the team)

• Each team is made up of four members plus one reserve, mixed gender.
• All events are point scored and the team with the most points overall wins.
• Although there is quite a competitive atmosphere at the competition, it remains to be quite a light hearted event, so don't be put off by that!!

Training sessions will be running on Thursday evenings at NSVL Beach Base, Whitley Bay. They will start at 6pm and run for about an hour to an hour and a half, covering all events of the beach lifeguard competition, fitness and anything else anyone wants to do.

Sessions are open to any NSVL member, so if you want to come along and get some training hours logged before the start of the season or want to join in to improve fitness or join in just for fun, then feel free.

It is a friendly competition, so those of you who have decided to enter in North Tyneside Council's team or any other local authority team, rather than NSVL's, you are also welcome to come along for some training.

If you require anymore information about the competition then email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it There's no hurry at the moment, but if you've already decided you are interested in taking part in the competition then let me know.