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11 Oct 2025

'It's like competitive Bondi Beach' - Limerick man to compete at Surf Lifesaving Championships

Ballyclough native Evan MacMahon to compete at European Surf Lifesaving Championships in Poland

'It's like competitive Bondai Beach' - Limerick man to compete at Surf Lifesaving Championships

Evan in action at junior open water swim final at the All Ireland Surf Lifesaving Championship in Kilkee PICTURE I Cian MacMahon

Reporter:

Oisin Nolan

06 Aug 2025 11:30 AM

Limerick native Evan MacMahon has qualified to represent the Ireland Senior Boys in the upcoming European Surf Lifesaving Championships in Poland later this month. 

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McMahon, who hails from Ballyclough, is currently a pool lifeguard and swimming instructor at Lahinch Leisure Centre and he will be the first Limerick athlete to compete for Ireland. 

The Crescent Comprehensive student took an interest in the sport when on summer holidays when he was eight. 

Evan was selected for the international senior team after pool trials in UL and beach trials in Brittas Bay in July. 

He trains four days a week with many of the competitors being lifeguards. His younger brother, Adam, who is nine years of age trains three days a week during the summer.

The sport started on the beaches of Australia and has become internationally competitive. It is aiming to be included in the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane Australia.

It is a competition involving many of the disciplines of life saving, the sport here is governed by Water Safety Ireland. 
It comprises a pool competition and an ocean competition. Ocean events for individuals include open water swimming races, rescue board races and surf ski racing. There are also team events.
Evan's father Cian, recounts how his son got involved in the sport.
"We would spend our summers in Lahinch and there was this one day where we saw hundreds of kids on the beach with all these different colourful boards and they were all out racing. We got chatting to people that were there because we were thinking 'what's all this about?'
"We found out a little bit about it and just signed him up where he had a summer of training and he started competed from the get-go. It was just a snowball effect from there and he never looked back," he said. 
Cian says his son immediately fell in love with the sport. 
"Straight away he loved the variety of it, the discipline that's involved and the training was incredibly hard. He would have competed in a few field sports in Limerick but this was completely different. He fell in love with it. It's like competitive Bondi Beach is the best way of describing it." 
Cian admits that is a proud feeling to see his son put on his country's colours. 
"It's incredible, just to be able to pull on the green jersey is amazing and we're very, very proud parents and we're just excited to see him in action. He's worked very hard over the years so it's nice to him get rewarded for his efforts."
"He was involved in Limerick Swimming Club for years and the great thing about it is it gives you great discipline, even in other aspects of his life, things like school and study."
Evan, as a Crescent Comprehensive student, would have played rugby growing up but his father says that his attention is fully focused on surf lifesaving. 
"Rugby would've been his thing before finding this, as a Crescent Comprehensive student but it's all surf lifesaving now, even in the winter time he goes out to Ennis, he goes out to train in the pool for the pool discipline."
Cian says the family is looking forward to their trip to Poland later this month to watch Evan compete. 
"We're just really looking forward to it now, buying green flags and green tops on Amazon and things like that."
"First and foremost we just want to make sure that he's happy and that he's enjoying himself. Once you see that they're good at it and that they put in so much effort, it's just nice to see him get rewarded."
"My chest is bursting with pride that he is being rewarded for what he has done."
"He's made great friends along the way as well. A lot of the Irish team are from Clare so he has made a lot of friends along the way that he wouldn't have met if not for sport, so yeah we're just really proud of him."
Evan will be competing in the Munster Regionals in Ardmore, Waterford on the weekend the 9/10 of August before competing in the All Ireland Championships in Kilkee a week later.
He will then travel to the European Championships in Poland later this month, a week long competition that runs from August 24 to September 1. 

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