• Italians dominate European Championships
• DLRG sets German junior record
• Open water competitions start on Wednesday (3.7.)

Bad Nenndorf/Riesa/Mücheln. Halfway through the Youth European Lifesaving Championship in Germany. The national team of the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) is closely following the Italian athletes after the competitions in the indoor pool of Riesa (Saxony) on Monday (1.7.). The reigning European Youth Lifesaving Champions from Italy have won the majority of the competitions and are leading the table. "Italy has impressively demonstrated its dominance in the pool disciplines. On the first day, only the Italian anthems could be heard," said DLRG Sports Director Kai Schirmer. Whether the defending champions will dominate in open water as well will be revealed in the next two days: On Wednesday (3.7.), the lifeguards from the twelve participating nations will continue their competition in open water at Lake Geiseltal in Mücheln (Saxony-Anhalt).

Italian celebrate two new junior world records

Already on Saturday (29.6.), the Italians shone at the start of the Simulated Rescue Exercise, in which the goal is to rescue as many "victims" as possible in a fictional rescue scenario. The next day, they began their winning streak and won every pool discipline. In the 4 x 25 meter rescue of a dummy, the Italian athletes even swam new junior world records (women: 1:22.61 minutes; men: 1:08.96 minutes).

The finals on Monday (1.7.) could not have started better for Leo Ilias Baumann (DLRG Völklingen): The lifesaving athlete, who is swimming for the national team for the first time, immediately grabbed the gold medal in the 200 meter obstacle swim at the start and crowned himself the junior European champion in this discipline. At the same time, he set a new German junior record with a time of 1:58.08 minutes.

DLRG athletes collect twelve medals

The Italians once again impressed with strong performances in the pool on the last day, only being beaten by Baumann in obstacle swimming and Dam Cornelissen (Netherlands) in rope throwing. The Polish men's relay team won the 4 x 50 meter obstacle swimming. The DLRG juniors collected a total of eight silver and three bronze medals in addition to the gold medal in thefirst part of the event.

On Wednesday (3.7.), around 100 junior lifeguards will start the second half of the European Youth Championships. Competitions in and around the water await at Lake Geiseltal (Strandallee 1, 06249 Mücheln). On July 4th, it will be determined which nation will be crowned European Youth Lifesaving Champion 2024.

High-resolution images from the competition can be found in the DLRG Medienportal.

About lifesaving sport

Lifesaving sport is the competitive version of lifesaving swimming. It originated from the idea of recruiting people for water rescue services. Because good lifesaving athletes are also good lifesavers. The sport can help save lives in emergencies. Strength, conditioning, speed, and mastery of rescue equipment are prerequisites for being competitive in competition. In the DLRG, tens of thousands of people actively participate in lifesaving sport, from local clubs to international competitions.

press contact: Niklas Lübkemann, mail to presse@dlrg.de