The opening day of Youth Ocean events at the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships has been postponed due to surf conditions forecast for Tuesday.
Beach events will continue to proceed, featuring the 2km Beach Runs and Beach Relays, with competition starting at 8:15am.
Surf Life Saving Queensland Head of Sport Stuart Hogben said the LWC24 Carnival Committee met this afternoon after receiving an updated briefing from the Bureau of Meteorology, which indicated a strong southeasterly wind will see an increase in swell on Tuesday, along with relatively windy conditions to what has already been experienced during the event.
“The Competition Committee reviewed the update and looked at previous hazard ratings that we’ve done and believe that the hazard rating will be slightly up on what we have had,” said Hogben. “Taking into consideration the amount of international competitors we have here and noting the way they have handled the conditions over the last few days, it would be unwise to continue with the Youth Ocean competition in those conditions.
“We want to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable experience in the competition and can partake in it.
“The prediction from the Bureau is that it will be a short-lived swell and on Wednesday morning conditions will be back to what we have seen earlier in the Championships, if not less than we have seen in the last few days.
“The Safety Committee and Carnival Committee believe that the competition in the water can resume as normal with a revised program for the following two days of Ocean events for the Youth competitors.”
