The European Youth Lifesaving Championships (EYLC) changed venues on Wednesday (3 July). From the indoor pool in Riesa (Saxony), it was off to the Geiseltalsee in Mücheln (Saxony-Anhalt) for the open water competitions. The day could not have got off to a better start for the DLRG youngsters. The twelve nations kicked off with the beach sprints. Here the German athletes proved their speed and produced two new European Youth Champions: Johanna Gnad (Malsch) and Samuel Abold (Starnberg) were the first to cross the finish line. Jessica Körner (Charlottenburg) remained close behind her teammate and snatched the silver medal.

The individual competitions were followed by the teams. Gnad and Körner won the gold medal together with Finja Thoms (Schwerte) and Alina Wagner (Stadtkyll). The juniors with Jonah Henninger (Bad Windsheim), Luk Theile (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf), Devin Käthe (Luckenwalde) and Samuel Abold were beaten by the French and secured second place.

The tide turned when they went from the beach into the water: Italians Cecilia Moretti and Diego Ferrari won the rescue ski and rescue board race. Shortly afterwards, they showed that they are also unbeatable together in the rescue with rescue board. The German duos of Johanna Gnad and Johanna Bodenburg (Rheindalen) and Luk Theile and Fabian Hermann (Halle/Saale) each won the silver medal in this discipline.

After the lunch break, the challenging rescue triathlon concluded the competition day. In the Oceanwoman, the German athletes were again defeated by the Italians, but were crowned runners-up in the European Youth Lifesaving Championships. In the Oceanman, the German team just missed out on the podium behind Belgium. In the triathlon, the French team finished ahead of Italy.

In the final phase on Thursday (4 July), the young athletes can collect points in five disciplines one last time before the overall winner is determined in the afternoon and the 2024 European Youth Champion is crowned.

More information is available at dlrg.de/eylc2024. Printable images of the competition can be found on the DLRG media portal.

About the sport of rescue swimming

Rescue sport is the competitive version of lifeguarding. It originated from the idea of recruiting people for the water rescue service. Because good lifeguards are also good lifeguards. The sport can help save lives in an emergency. Strength, fitness, speed and mastery of the rescue equipment are prerequisites for being able to compete. In the DLRG, tens of thousands of people are actively involved in rescue sports, from local clubs to international competitions.

Press contact: Niklas Lübkemann, Mail: presse@dlrg.de