Water safety warning: 60 Kiwis have drowned so far this year

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Stay away from rocks and rips at the beach over summer, surf lifesavers say. (Video first published in November 2019.)

Sixty Kiwis have died in preventable drowning incidents so far this year – and summer is yet to start.

The figure is up on this time last year, when there had been 51 fatal preventable drownings, according to data from Water Safety New Zealand.

Unfortunately, the statistics are likely to rise even further as the weather gets warmer and more people flock to beaches and rivers to cool off, and Surf Life Saving is now calling for people to swim at beaches patrolled by lifeguards to prevent more tragedies in the water.

The call comes as New Zealand celebrates its first Water Safety Month, which began on October 18 and will run until November 23.

*Muriwai drowning orphans still 'struggling everyday' after losing parents a year ago

*Two bodies found at beaches along Auckland's west coast in two days

*Body believed to be missing swimmer found at Piha, West Auckland**

In Auckland, the number of preventable drowning deaths as at November 1 this year had already exceeded last year's total.

According to Water Safety New Zealand, 14 of the 17 fatal drownings in the region between January and October could have been prevented.

In 2018, there had been just eight fatal preventable drownings in Auckland during the same period.

Nationally, there were 66 preventable drownings in total in 2018, a sharp drop from the 91 seen in 2017, which was the highest rate in nearly a decade.

The yearly average across the country was 79 between 2014 and 2018.

Surf Life Saving training supervisor Joel Ibbs says people should keep to their ability level in order to stay safe.

Auckland's west coast beaches have a long-held reputation as hotspots for drownings.

This year, six of the 14 preventable drownings in Auckland had occurred at beaches, five of which were on the region's rugged west coast, Water Safety New Zealand said.

Two people drowned at Bethells Beach, one at nearby Muriwai, another at Piha, on the same stretch of coastline, and one at Te Waha Point, north of Piha.

Volunteer lifeguard Gail Abel says most of the work they do is to ensure the beach is safe enough so that they don't have to do any rescues.

The sixth incident was at Goat Island Marine Reserve at Leigh. That person was pulled from the water in a critical condition, but later died in Auckland City Hospital.

But Joel Ibbs, member development and training supervisor for Surf Life Saving Northern Region, said all beaches could be dangerous and the conditions changed daily.

'Depending on the conditions rips can pop up in any location along the beach.'

He advised Aucklanders to swim at patrolled beaches where lifeguards were on duty, including Bethells Beach, Kariaotahi, Mairangi Bay, Kare Kare, Muriwai, Orewa, Piha, Redbeach, Takapuna, Long Bay and Browns Bay.

Last summer, lifeguards at beaches on Auckland's west coast conducted 136 rescues and helped 15,382 people before they got into trouble through preventative action.

Gail Abel is a life member of the United North Piha Lifeguard Service, where she's been volunteering for nearly five decades.

She said lifeguards were focussed on stopping people from swimming in dangerous spots on the 2.4km area of coastline North Piha crews patrol.

'We spend most of our time trying to keep people safe and having that fence at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance at the bottom. We consider that if we're needing to do a rescue we've missed something that we should have seen earlier,' Abel said.

'It's nice to get the end of the day and know that all those hundreds of people that you've seen have got through the day safely and they go home to their loved ones while we go home to our loved ones.'

What to do if you're in trouble in the water:

- Relax and conserve your energy

- Raise your hand to signal you need help

- Ride the rip out – don't try to swim against it

- Wait to be rescued

If you see someone in trouble in the water, tell a lifeguard or call 111 and ask for police if there aren't any life guards on duty.

For more information about which beaches are safe to swim – or surf or boat – at this summer and to find out whether a beach is patrolled, you can use Surf Life Saving New Zealand's Find a Beach tool.