The British Universities Lifesaving Clubs' Association (BULSCA) is the governing body for

lifesaving Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue; however, it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical services. ...

sport at the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

level in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It organises the university-level competition schedule, assists with the training of judges, and hosts an annual Student National Championship. BULSCA organises competitions in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and also includes member teams from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In recent years the club has also been represented at international competition, including the Grand Prix Moravie held in Brno, Czech Republic. For the years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 the BULSCA championships at Swansea and Bristol respectively also played host to a team representing Greek Universities.

History

Competitive lifesaving between clubs at universities across Britain began as a small collaboration between rival clubs over 15 years ago and quickly expanded as more clubs became involved. The formation of BULSCA in 2002 was in response to this growing popularity of lifesaving sport at universities; with the university lifesaving league being established in the 2002/03 season to provide a connection between the various competitions hosted by the universities over a season. It is now not uncommon to see 20 to 30 teams at a majority of the competitions. In addition, to the BULSCA league, BULSCA introduced the Student Nationals, a full weekend of competition combining both speed events and traditional events. As BULSCA grew in size and ambition it became necessary to form a full committee, made up of a mixture of current BULSCA members and BULSCA “old boys”. This was formed in 2007. Today the BULSCA calendar is extensive with some clubs taking part in around 8 BULSCA league competitions a year as well as Student National Championships, and other regional, national and international competitions. BULSCA has also provided volunteers for events such as the London Triathlon, the Blenheim Triathlon, the RLSS’s ‘Save a Baby’s Life’ and ‘Get Safe 4 Summer‘ campaigns, along with many more local small scale events. Although BULSCA predominantly exists to run the league and championships, BULSCA are now making efforts to run courses which will aid members through their lifesaving time, and to encourage participation in Lifesaving and Lifesaving Sport.

Competitions

League Competitions

Competitions take place throughout the year in line with

term dates, i.e. from October to Christmas and from January to May. Each competition is hosted by one of the member clubs. Clubs typically enter one or two teams (an "A" and "B" team), and each year there is both a league for A and B teams. A full list of league results can be found here.

Fixed Events

These events occur at every BULSCA competition. *Dry and wet Simulated Emergency Response Competition * Rope Throw Relay * Swim and Tow

Variable Events

Hosting universities have some flexibility with these events, having to include at least one of the following events. * Medley Relay * Manikin Carry Relay * Obstacles Relay

League results

Championships

BULSCA also host BULSCA Student National Championships every year. This competition takes place over 2 days with teams competing in squads of 12 (6 male and 6 female rather than the usual teams of 4 mixed). On the Saturday teams compete in speed lifesaving events in teams and individually. On the Sunday the teams compete in teams of 4 in the same events as a normal league competition. The winner of the competition is the squad which performs best over the 2 days.

References

{{reflist

External links

British Universities Lifesaving Clubs' Association
* Promotional Vide

Lifesaving organizations Sports organisations of the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 2002 Student sport in the United Kingdom Swimming in the United Kingdom 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom Student sports governing bodies