First water-related death not a good start to festive period
Monday, 26 December 2022
Last year’s festive holiday drowning figures were the worst in 40 years and if there is a repeat this season it will largely be men who pay the price.
Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard said drownings are a combination of people “behaving badly” and adverse conditions.
“First and foremost is men behaving badly. Over 80% of all fatalities are men and they are generally over 50 years old,” he said.
On Monday, the body of a missing canoeist has been found in Lake Roto Kohatu, which took the festive period water-related incidents to one.
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“Unfortunately, this is usual for this time of the year. Last holiday period there were 14 fatalities and that’s from 4pm on Christmas Eve through until 6am on the fourth of January,” Gerrard said.
In 2022, half of the drowning fatalities occurred while people were out swimming, out on the water in aboat over 4m long and as a result of a fall into the water.
Gerrard said some measures could be taken to prevent fatal incidents, such as “avoid going out diving by yourself” or wearing a life jacket when fishing on a boat.
And although rivers may appear less dangerous than the ocean, they were just as deadly.
Men appeared to be making the worst decisions when it came to water safety, he said.
“We are encouraging families to support better husbands, fathers, brothers and dads, to make better decisions.
“They could be younger men swimming at the beach getting caught in a rip while swimming outside the flags, or Pākeha men over 55 out in boats without a life jacket, or Māori men over 40 diving by themselves while gathering kai, or Asian males over 40 rock-fishing.
'Enjoy the beautiful waterways, but please have a think, and make some smart decisions. So everyone comes home this year,” Gerrard said.