SPORT & COMPETITION HANDBOOK 2026
The Competition Handbook Committee has been diligently reviewing the Sport & Competition Handbook to:
- Ensure the event rules align with the current ILS Competition Rule Book (May 2026);
- Provide clarity on items such as eligibility and pointscore;
- Streamline document organisation to remove duplicate information.
As the changes are extensive for this review cycle, only the ILS changes in Section 4 and Section 8 have been highlighted in yellow noting the two (2) new ILS events have been added.
Sections 7 refers to Short Course Guidelines and will not be posted prior to APLSC.
The Australian Pool Life Saving Championships will be conducted under the RLSSA 2026 Sport & Competition Handbook.
Please direct all questions or comments to sport@rlssa.org.au
Sport and Competition Handbook - FINAL 2026
Sport and Competition Handbook - FINAL 2026 con't.
SANCTIONING
The Australian Pool Lifesaving Championships will be conducted as an International Life Saving Federation (ILS) sanctioned competition.
The RLSSA Competition Handbook incorporates all technical rules and bulletins included in the 2023 ILS Competition Rulebook, launched 1 June 2023. The changes to the previous edition are detailed in the Preface Section at the front of the new ILS Competition Rulebook
ANTI-DOPING
The World Anti-Doping Code came into effect in January 2021 with recent additions to the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods and the 2025 Monitoring Program coming into effect 1 January 2025. A Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes can be found on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) website.
ILS anti-doping information can be found here on their website. The ILS Anti-Doping Rules and Anti-Doping Education Bulletin are linked below.
It is the responsibility of athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and support personnel to be aware of and understand their obligations under the Code. Further information and a summary of changes in the 2021 Code can be found here on the Sport Integrity Australia website.
It is recommended that all Royal Life Saving members and APLSC participants complete the Anti-Doping Fundamentals online course (previously Anti-Doping Level 1). This course is free but requires registration to the Sport Integrity Australia e-learning platform.
