A young swimmer from Wybunbury has achieved her Royal Lifesaving Society gold medallion – and is believed to be the youngest in the UK to pass it.
Twelve-year-old Izzy Serventi, a member of Nantwich Neptunes Lifesaving Club, worked towards the amazing achievement while attending sessions at Nantwich Pool.
And the Shavington Academy pupil is so qualified she is now teaching adults – even her own mum!
Izzy is now aiming to achieve the Distinction Award – a rare accolade only awarded to those who achieve three gold level awards within a 24-month period.
She will take her gold stillwater assessment in September 2022 and is working on the skills needed for the gold sport medallion.
Mum Emma said: “We are so proud of her!
“She trained me up to pass my bronze medallion, but I can’t keep up with her.
“Two lengths in under a minute killed me! For gold she had to do eight lengths in less than four minutes. I will never do that.”
Izzy joined Nantwich Neptunes aged just seven and quickly completed Stage 7 of the Learn to Swim programme and wanted to do more than competitive swimming.
She took up the Rookie Lifeguard programme on Saturday mornings and continued with the Learn to Swim programme during the week.
By the age of eight she had passed Stage 10 of the Learn to Swim programme and was onto the Rookie Lifeguard Silver Awards.
And by nine, Izzy had completed the Rookie programme and came first in the RLSS Liverpool District Challenge Cup, and second in the Timed Sports Competition.
She was desperate to continue with her awards but the next level, the Survive and Save programme, is usually aimed at ages 12 and over.
Despite being just nine, RLSS UK allowed Izzy to start on the Survive and Save Medallions, as they acknowledged her amazing achievements at such a young age and didn’t want to hold her back.
So far she achieved the Bronze Medallion, Bronze Sport Medallion, Bronze Stillwater Medallion, Silver Medallion, Silver Sport Medallion, Silver Stillwater Medallion and Gold Medallion.
Izzy said: “You get to have loads of fun in the water, whilst learning essential lifesaving skills.”
Mum Emma added: “Nantwich Neptunes is an amazing club and we would love some more swimmers to join us.
“Julie who runs the club deserves a medal for all the hard work she puts in.
“All the teachers are volunteers and it is so much fun!
“I don’t think people have any idea these awards exist, and the skills the kids learn could save lives, which is brilliant.”
A spokesperson for the The RLSS said: “The Survive and Save awards are very challenging, and as well as developing key lifesaving skills, Izzy has had to demonstrate speed, strength, endurance, and accuracy to complete the awards.”
Nantwich Neptunes members meet for lifesaving skills every Saturday at Nantwich pool at 7.45am.
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