Lifeguards Off to N.Y. Competition

Three women from the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service have been selected to compete Wednesday at the 15th annual All-Woman Lifeguard Tournament at Jacob Riis Park in Queens County, N.Y.

Lori Borgal and Hannah Fraser, both of Halifax, and Nancy Witty of Wolfville are coming off excellent performances at the Nova Scotia All-Woman Beach Lifeguard Competition held July 20 at Rissers Beach in Lunenburg County. The three women combined took first-place finishes in all eight events, including the run-swim-run, paddleboard race and the gruelling ironwoman. Ms. Borgal and Ms. Fraser finished the day as the overall winners of the team division, while Ms. Witty came away with the individual title.

Although Ms. Borgal and Ms. Fraser have extensive competitive swimming experience, lifesaving competitions are a relatively new experience. Both have established themselves as top female athletes with the Halifax Trojans Aquatic Club and are expected to be key members of the Dalhousie swim team next year.

Ms. Witty is a veteran lifesaving competitor, having competed at several national and international competitions. She was a member of the national team at the 1998 world lifesaving championships in New Zealand and is a hopeful for Team Canada at the 2000 world lifesaving championships to be held in Sydney, Australia.

The Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service is a joint project of the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission and the Lifesaving Society, Nova Scotia Branch.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos of the three competitors -- Lori Borgal, Hannah Fraser and Nancy Witty -- are available on the Communications Nova Scotia ftp site.

Members of the media can access the ftp site using the following information:

Site: ftp.gov.ns.ca UserID: cns_guest Password: vEw1078K Files: wittyn.jpg
borgall.jpg
fraserh.jpg