Holiday drowning figures worst in 40 years, water safety experts try to diagnose the cause

Friday, 7 January 2022

Rivers are among the most popular places to swim, but pose hidden dangers and the highest rates of drowning.

For 40 years, drowning numbers dropped in New Zealand, with people heeding the calls to swim between the flags and watch out for rips.

This summer, the numbers have taken a backward step. Over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, 14 people have drowned, the worst figure since 1982-83.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard

The chief executive of Water Safety NZ, Daniel Gerrard, said the drowning statistics over the summer period have been devastating.

“We’ve been trending the right way for 40 years, so it’s really important we find out what the factors were that caused these deaths, and address them.”

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The swimming hole at the Lee River Reserve near Brightwater, calm on the surface but potentially lethal underneath.

He wouldn’t speculate as to how the death toll has got so high, but said many, many factors were at play.

Rivers were the most common place people drowned this summer. Over the past five years, one person on average has drowned in a river over the holiday period. This holiday period, six out of 14 who died drowned in rivers.

Gerrard said education around the danger of beaches, and messaging around swimming between the flags and what to do in a rip, was widely known.

The same could not be said for rivers.

“They’re just so tranquil-looking,” he said. “They look so slow-moving, and I think that’s a bit of a trick.

“The tranquillity is masking the sheer volume of water that’s moving through, and riverbanks are very changeable. Because of that people can go to a regular swimming hole that can change quite dramatically. It can get scoured out and all of a sudden it’s two metres deep instead of 20 centimetres.”

Water Safety NZ is working with the Mountain Safety Council on educating people on the dangers of rivers.

People are well versed in the swim between the flags messaging, but less so around river safety.

Mountain Safety’s chief executive, Mike Daisley, said the Council focused on educating trampers or mountain bikers about the dangers of river crossings.

He said there is a different mindset between hikers and swimmers, with one seeing a river as a dangerous obstacle, while the other sees it as a safe recreational spot.

“What's not front of mind is the environment you're in. What is front of mind seems to be that you're having a good time,” Daisley said. “When the unexpected happens, people aren't prepared for that.

The Mountain Safety Council educates people on safely crossing rivers.

“It's not as simple as that, but that's that's the core difference here is that people are having fun and enjoying it, and that's a fantastic thing to do, exploring the waterways and cooling down and swimming with your friends and family.

“I guess the thing that we can share with other water safety areas is that people have got to think ahead, that rivers are dangerous.”

Both Daisley and Gerrard were quick to point out that New Zealand’s drowning rates are much better than they once were.

In 1985, there were 163 preventable drownings in New Zealand, a figure that has more than halved in the 36 years since.

Provisional figures show 74 people died from drowning in 2021, the same as the previous year.

In 1985 drownings peaked at just under five per 100,000 population, but 2021 was the second-lowest on record with 1.44 per 100,000 people.

“We just hope this summer has been an aberration,” Daisley said. “But we have to understand it better to know.”

The government dedicated $15.75 million to water safety initiatives in 2021 – part of the $63m over four years that has been put towards preventing water-related deaths and serious injuries.

The majority, over $15m, went to Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand for rescue services.

Just $500,000 went to Water Safety NZ for advertising campaigns, education and funding for children in low socio-economic households to get swim training.

Gerrard was full of praise for the efforts of lifeguards and Coastguard over the past year, but questioned the low amount the government is giving to water safety in general.

“It’s what the investment has been over a long period of time,” Gerrard said. “Speaking with some colleagues at the Ministry of Transport, you know, the infrastructure and safety investment on our roads is in the billions.

“What partnerships, or what connections can we build with government agencies to release some further funding, to do some specific targeting around supporting and protecting our children and youth?

“You know, too often we as organisations and not-for-profits are putting our hand out for more money, but you've also got to be realistic that we know that specific investment will make a difference. How do we secure that money and make it go that much further?”