Falmouth swimming sensation Josie Williams recently returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia, where she represented England in the RLSS Commonwealth Lifesaving Championship, winning four gold and four silver medals.

The event, which is held every two years, was hosted in the capital of Life Saving at Canberra's Institute of Sport complex, and was officially opened with a Civic reception at the Old Parliament House, where delegates, competitors and officials mingled.

For Josie, now 18 years-old, it marked her second Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships as part of the 23 strong England team, made up of 10 Seniors (five men and five ladies) and ten development squad members (also 5 men & 5 ladies) team

Day one opened with the Commonwealth short course competition, giving the international swimmers the opportunity to shake off the 10,000 mile journey and begin to focus on getting up to swim race speed.

The competition followed the same race format, only the pool was shortened to the standard 25m length. For Josie, it was a good day as she claimed two gold and two silver medals.

For the next three days the Ccmpetition switched to the Olympic 50 metre pool and was fast and furious, with Josie finishing with another two gold and two silver medals.

However the highlight of the competition for all the non-Australian fans was the 4 x 50m obstacle relay where the England ladies came from over a body length behind to out-touch the Australian team by 0.06 second - a feat that lifted the roof off the 50m pool at the Australian Institute of Sports, and also set a new Commonwealth Championship best time.

Josie's contribution helped England achieve second place: their highest placing ever at a Commonwealth Lifesaving Championship.

Josie has now been selected for the RLSS UK Performance Squad, which sees her having the opportunity to compete in another International competition in Europe for the German Cup.