Beauty among the beasties

Foster paid her own way to Australia

By Travis Cranley BBC Sport Online

No-one had told Jo Foster just what 'beasties' were as she waded into the crashing Sydney surf for her first training session with Australian surf lifesavers.

Foster, a blonde, tanned, 24-year-old Londoner, had heard the coach mention 'beasties' a couple of times in his pep talk.

Eager to be on top of things, she turned to the swimmer next to her for enlightenment.

"Beasties are sharks," her training partner said cheerfully.

Foster has been training three times a day

"Real sharks?" she shot back, a little too keenly.

"Real the last time I bloody saw one," came the no-nonsense reply.

It was lesson number one in Foster's crash-course in Aussie beach culture as she trained for the Rescue 2002 World Lifesaving Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Foster had been in Australia since February preparing for the championships, which started on Tuesday, 7 May, and paid for the trip herself.

Foster's aim is to be competitive in the beach events, long the bastion of the bronzed Aussies, Americans and South Africans.

Lifesaving at elite level involves both beach and pool events, and the latter are the most popular with British and European competitors.

To prepare for her world championships debut, Foster has been training three times daily on Sydney's eastern beaches.

I tell Aussies that I trained to be a surf lifesaver in a lake and on the River Thames and they just stare at me

Jo Foster

She swims for 90 minutes in the morning before roadwork and sprints at midday.

She then has another 90-minute session of swimming and board paddling in the pounding swell of Bronte Beach (two bays from the famed Bondi Beach) in the late afternoon.

Foster began lifesaving in 1997 while a student at the University of Wales.

She carried on after she moved back to London, training three times a week at Southwater Lake near Horsham, a five-hour round-trip from her home.

"We'd also go on long surf-skiing training sessions on the River Thames," she said.

"We used to paddle in and out of the cruising boats so we could simulate going up and over waves.

"We had to use every single resource that was available to us."

High praise

Foster has been training with an elite lifesaving squad at Bronte Beach under the guidance of former ironman champion Scott Thomson, who has nothing but praise for Foster's efforts.

"The enthusiasm and energy she shows is that of a young teenager," said Thomson.

"I tell her that if she had this opportunity to train when she was 10 or 11 it would have been fantastic."

In Florida, Foster will compete in as many as 14 events for her Crawley Town club, which is sending a 12-person team comprising six men and six women.

Great experience

She will be the only woman from her club competing in beach events such as the surf swim and board paddle, and will also compete in the pool events.

"I tell Aussies that I trained to be a surf lifesaver in a lake and on the River Thames and they just stare at me," she smiled

"It's all been such an experience. I'm already looking to the next world championships, and the next after that.

"It's not all about winning, it's about being part of something which you just love to do."