A NORTHSIDE couple’s dedication to lifesaving has been
rewarded.
Ray and Kay Wickham, from Main Street Howth, have
given more than 100 years’ combined service to help others achieve these vital
skills.
The remarkable feat was marked recently when Minister
for the Environment Phil Hogan presented Irish Water Safety Life Governor
Awards to Ray and Kay at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.
The couple first met on the pool bank in Iveagh Baths
in 1965 at a water safety class.
Ray started his lifesaving career in 1958 in Sligo
town where his father was working at the time.
In 1959 he won a lifesaving school medal after
competing in Gormanston for his school.
He also represented Sligo the same year in the senior
competition winning the Central Council Cup, and worked as an instructor in
Gormanston and subsequently Iveagh Baths.
Ray competed in the senior competitions and won the
President’s Trophy many times. He was a member of the Dublin team with Jack
Mason and Alan Long that won the first Irish Water Safety Association (IWSA)
senior competition in the Airport Pool, and also represented Ireland in
Barcelona on the first IWSA team to compete internationally.
As an examiner Ray served on the Red Cross Standing
Water Safety Committee, as chairman of the Dublin Water Safety Committee and on
the IWSA and NSC Water Safety Committees.
He has run numerous courses for instructors, swimming
teachers and tutors.
Kay began her water safety career in Clontarf Baths in
1958 and continued in Iveagh Baths during the winter months.
She competed on the Dublin ladies’ teams starting in
1962 in Arklow and continued to have success, winning several senior ladies’
competitions.
She served on the Dublin WSAC Committee in the 1960s and
70s. She tutored on various courses and spent her life as a professional
swimming teacher, teaching and coaching water safety to schoolchildren.
Kay continues to operate in the role as instructor,
examiner, swimming teacher and swim teacher tutor.
Ray and Kay’s dedication to water safety has rubbed
off on the rest of their family as their three sons followed in their parents’
footsteps, winning school and senior lifesaving competitions in the 1980s.