[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/mariodicosmo.jpg” caption=”Mario Di Cosmo, a fourth-year life sciences student, is one of four lifeguards who will represent Canada at the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships on Sept. 23 in Durban, South Africa. He said he’s most looking forward to the solo mannequin rescue, in which he will have to swim with a 120-pound dummy. Photo courtesy Mario Di Cosmo.”]Mario Di Cosmo is getting ready to pack his bags for the sun, sand and warm waters of
South Africa, but he isn't going on holiday.

Di Cosmo, a fourth-year student in life sciences, is one of four lifeguards who will
represent Canada at the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships on Sept. 23 in the
port city of Durban, on the east coast of the African country.

Competitive lifesaving, a sport the Richmond Hill native picked up as a teenager, closely
mirrors competitive swimming, with the addition of lifesaving techniques such as using
rescue floats and carrying mannequins.

“It's great for a lifeguard to be able to find a sport that uses the same basic skills as
swimming but combines them with humanitarianism,” said Di Cosmo, who also swims
competitively for McMaster. “It's probably the only sport out there that includes
altruism.”

Di Cosmo said he's most looking forward to the solo mannequin rescue, in which the
swimmer must rescue a 120-pound dummy submerged at the bottom of a pool and
return it to land without letting its head go underwater.

“It's a tough event because the mannequin is so heavy, and we have to keep proper
technique while swimming.”

The Lifesaving Society acts as the governing body for competitive lifesaving in Canada
and lifesaving races in the country have been held at least since the 1930s. The sport is
popular in Australia and New Zealand, whose representatives Di Cosmo hopes to edge
out of the pool in Durban.

“I hope to do well. I hope I can do the best for my country.”