If you were planning on heading to the pool this weekend (February 24 and 25) you will be out of luck.

The Lifesaving Sport Competition kicks off this evening (February 23) at the aquatic centre bringing a variety of athletes to town from all over Alberta.

Marlee Palmer, Head Coach of the Cochrane Water Ninjas, shares the inaugural event for Cochrane will bring attention to the fairly unknown sport of lifesaving. "We are co-hosting with Calgary and we have eleven teams from all over Alberta coming to compete. It's kind of like a swimming event, there are still standardized events that they run through, it's swimming with a combination of mannequin carries and using obstacles. Different events in that way, but still in a standardized competition format."

Eleven teams will bring in just over 200 athletes ranging in age from 6 years old to those in their 30s. "It's a competitive sport it's not just lifeguards. It is not a very well known sport but as the years go on it's making its way into Canada. The Lifesaving Society is the umbrella of the sport but it's kind of cool to bring it into a small town that has probably never seen the sport before."

Palmer says many choose to go into lifesaving, simply, for the variety. "It is a change up for people who have been part of swim club for years and years. I used to compete, but I like the difference between swimming and lifesaving because it's not just your swim ability but there's so much more skill; like when you have to carry 80-lb mannequins or to do a line throw-in in less than 15 seconds. So there is a little bit more variety than swimming I find."

Teams from Hinton, Lethbridge, and Calgary will be represented at the two-day event. "It's the second biggest competition in Alberta next to Provincials, which is a cool thing for us because we didn't expect this many people to register, but it's neat to see.

This evening (February 23) just the lane pool will be closed at 5 pm but with the competition running all day on Saturday and Sunday the entire pool will be closed to the public.