/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-2_156213.jpg "Competitors in the Junior Women Double Surfski race are marshalled before their start during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships held in Gqeberha on 31 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-05_723000.jpg "Competitors in the Women’s U17 Iron Women race get ready on the start line during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-04_363951.jpg "Jessie Allott (right) from Clifton Lifesaving Club leads the Women’s U19 Run Swim Run event ahead of Ellen Strydom from Fish Hoek during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships in Gqeberha. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-07_514479.jpg "Fish Hoek Surf Livesaving Club (left) and Durban Surf Lifesaving Club (right) race for the finish line during the Male U17 Board Relay in the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-08_924397.jpg "Isabella Strydom from Fish Hoek Lifesaving Club grits her teeth as she races to take the Women’s U17 Surfski race in Gqeberha on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-13_692075.jpg "Boat teams race each other out into the bay during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships in Qgeberha on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-03_814050.jpg "The finish judge watches surfski competitors head out through the course during the Junior Women’s Double Surfski event at the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships on 31 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-12_791994.jpg "Riziki Magotsi (left) and Nina Watts (right) from Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club challenge each other for the flag in the U17 Women’s Flag event on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-11_812379.jpg "Miya Krog and Emma Neethling exhausted after the U17 Iron Women event during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships on 30 March 2026. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-09_143043.jpg "Waris Mills and Rosie Edwards celebrate a win in the Open Women’s Board Rescue event in Gqeberha on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
/file/attachments/orphans/DailyMaverick-06_966365.jpg "Competitors and their rescue boards line the beach after a hotly contested board race during the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships held on 30 March. (Photo: Halden Krog)")
IN PICTURES
Top lifesavers compete at national championships in Gqeberha
The South African National Lifesaving Championships in Gqeberha brings together top athletes from across the country to compete in a range of surf and beach disciplines. The event highlights the skill, endurance and teamwork required in lifesaving, while also promoting water safety awareness along South Africa’s (SA’s) coastline.
The sun rises over King Beach, Qgeberha as the 2026 DHL South African National Lifesaving Championships kicks off with clubs from around the country competing beach and ocean races on 30 March 2026. (Photo: Halden Krog)