Liam Knight, a young East Hampton lifeguard who recently competed with the U.S. team in the world lifesaving championships in Australia, said in an email this week that “it was amazing to see lifesaving as a sport in which people from all over the world engage.”
“I could not have done it without the support of our community,” he added. “The many donations from individuals and organizations here allowed me to have this experience. . . . I was getting texts in Australia from people who were watching the tournament live on TV, even though it was late here. It made me want to do my best, for my town and my country.”
Knight, who is running cross-country for East Hampton High School this fall, said he was most proud of the team’s seventh-place finish in the tube rescue race’s A finals. “Originally, I wasn’t supposed to be in it, but when they asked me to be the rescuer, I said I would. It felt good to show that I was a true competitor and would jump into any event he was needed for.”
In other competitions, Knight, whose 12-member team vied with youth lifesaving teams representing 18 other countries — teams that, unlike America’s, he said, train the year round — placed 20th among the 36 beach flags entrants, placed 11th in the B final 90-meter sprint, and, with teammates, finished fifth in the oceanman relay, won the B final 4-by-90-meter sprint relay, and made the B finals in a pool relay.
As for the pool events, “they’re not ones we compete in here in the U.S.A., though I trained on my own with my father [Sean Knight] at the Y. I was told that because of the pool events’ technicalities there often were dq’s, though I wasn’t disqualified in any of the ones I was in, and now that I’ve seen them, my goal is to train hard all year so that I’ll have the opportunity to try out for the international team again.”
