Columba College is consistently proud of past and present students who excel in their chosen sports outside of school, and surf lifesaving is a sport where our students often shine brightly!

The Otago Surf Lifesaving Championships were held recently with Year 13 Columba student, Madi, and Year 12 student, Amelia, competing for their respective SLS Clubs in the championships. A number of past students from Columba College were also participating in the region's championship event.

Madi competed in the U19 Women's Canoe and Open Women's Canoe races and came away with three gold medals and a silver from the competition. This was a fantastic achievement and her overall results are as follows:

• U19 Short course: GOLD
• U19 Long course: GOLD
• Open Women's Short course: GOLD
• Open Women's Long course: SILVER

Congratulations, Madi. Your training and hard work over the summer clearly paid dividends! It is always great to see past students participating in these events, especially when they team up with present Columba students. For example, super sisters Maddy and Phoebe! 

Amelia competed in a number of U17 events, achieving some outstanding results. In the individual events, Amelia's performances across the water and sand gave her 3 gold medals and 3 silver medals. Amazing! Amelia's results are as follows: 

• U17 Board Race: GOLD
• U17 Beach Flags: GOLD
• U17 Sprints: GOLD
• U17 Run-Swim-Run: SILVER
• U17 Surf Race: SILVER
• 2km Run: SILVER

Amelia also participated in a number of team events and came 1st in the U17 tube rescue & board rescue, 1st in the open women’s beach relay and U19 women’s beach relay, and 1st in the U19 surf teams event. What an incredible day out for Amelia. Congratulations! Amelia has also recently qualified to compete in IRB at Nationals this year (U19 category). See the photos below to appreciate how much of an impressive achievement this is! 

Surf Lifesavers from across the South Island will descend on Christchurch this coming weekend to compete in the South Island champs. We wish all our past and present students the very best for these championships; we will watch their progress with interest!