12 people plucked from cold Bay waters

LIFEGUARD patrol is not due to start until this weekend but already Omanu lifeguards have been busy helping 12 people in trouble in the water in two rescues on Saturday.
The 30 members of the Omanu Surf Club had just finished a day of training when they were called into action for real.
For some of the younger members of the Omanu Surf Club it was their first rescue but, with so many lives at stake, every member played a part in the two ``perfect rescues'.
Layne Duthie, 14, was heading into his second season as a lifeguard and said his adrenalin was pumping as he helped in his biggest-yet rescues.
``It really helps us get more excited about being lifeguards.'
In the first rescue, the club saved 11 Thai children who went swimming in 15C water and got caught in a rip. They were dressed only in shorts, T-shirts and sweatshirts.
When the lifeguards found them they were becoming hypothermic and one girl was drifting in and out of consciousness.
The members were debriefing in the clubrooms at 5pm when a man walked in and asked: ``are there are any lifeguards here?' He said there was a group of young people in trouble off Girven Rd.
Springing into action, the older, experienced lifeguards got changed while the younger members got the IRBs and equipment ready.
They found the 11 children, aged 12 and 13 on shore, wet and shivering in their summer clothes.
The group, in New Zealand on a three-week English language trip, had been dropped off to go to their homestays but decided to take a dip in the cold ocean water.
``They were just not aware of the conditions in New Zealand water,' said Allan Mundy, chief lifesaving examiner for Bay of Plenty.
``They got sucked into a rip and taken out to sea. Eventually it took them out to the bar.'
Once they regained their footing they were able to make it back to shore but the seven who had been pushed 50m out to sea were in a bad condition.
``It took 15 to 20 minutes with blankets before they stopped shivering,' said lifeguard Ross Barker.
One of the girls was hooked up to oxygen and was drifting in and out of consciousness.
At 7pm, they got a call from police saying a diver was missing near Rabbit Island.
Lifeguard Jon Hume was searching for the diver from an IRB and spotted him on the rocks at the bottom of the island. He had lost a flipper and did not want to get back in the water.
It all ended well with two ``perfect rescues' though, he said.
The best part was the experience it gave the young lifeguards.
``They felt like they really contributed to saving these guys' lives.'
Andrew Duthie, Layne's father and a lifeguard in his sixth season, said it was fantastic they were able to run through those scenarios in training and then perfect them in practice.
``It's intense, it's exciting.'