Qatar: from Associate to Full Member

At the ILS Board Meetings in Egypt in 2004 the QSF was accepted as Full Member of ILS.

In 2003 the Qatar Marine Sports Federation became an Associate Member of ILS.

The Qatar National Olympic Committee decided to transfer the responsibilities of lifesaving from the Qatar Marine Sports Federation to the Qatar Swimming Association.

The Qatar Swimming Association is a private organisation that promotes swimming and aquatic activities in the country. With the Asian Games to come, Qatar is investing massively in its sports infrastructure and in December 2006 the City of Doha will have over 12 state of the art Olympic Swimming pools.

The Qatar Swimming Federation welcomed the ILS President in February 2004 and the ILS Secretary General has set up different lifesaving courses in close collaboration with the Qatar Swimming Association. Complementary to this a complete Water Safety Education Programme was created that would start at the age of 6-7 years in the schools of Qatar both for boys and girls. The federation has accepted the ILS Certification programme and is currently in the process of translating a lifesaving-lifeguarding manual into Arabic so that it could be used, not only in Qatar, but also in the over 24 Arabic speaking countries in the World.

ILS welcomes Qatar in the lifesaving family.