National award for Whangarei club

The rescue of a surfer at Ocean Beach, Whangarei Heads, has earned the lifeguards involved a national surf lifesaving award.

The rescue of a surfer at Whangarei's Ocean Beach has won a national surf lifesaving award.

Every month, Surf Life Saving New Zealand selects a winning rescue from each region as well as an overall national winner for the title of BP Rescue of the Month.

Whangarei Heads Surf Life Saving Club won the Northern Region BP Rescue of the Month award for February as well as being the overall national winner for the rescue of the surfer in February.

The club's deputy patrol captain, John-Michael Hicks, was on flag duty with newly qualified guards Breeanna Martinac, Meg Robinson and Kelena Roughan on February 14 when they were approached by some children who had found a surfboard washed in through the northern gut at the popular surf beach.

Due to the large swell, the surfer was hard to spot and he was making no headway against the strong current, so Mr Hicks ordered an inflatable rescue boat (IRB) driver and crewman and then entered the water with a rescue tube.

Fellow lifeguard Jess Robinson was already on her way down to the beach for a swim and, together with American exchange lifeguard John Pritchard, they assisted with the search while Ms Roughan and Meg Robinson kept an eye on the flagged area back on the beach.

Mr Hicks swam out to the struggling surfer, picked him up and swam the man further out beyond the breakers to wait for Jess Robinson and Mr Pritchard in the IRB. The surfer rested on the tube until the IRB collected him and returned him to the shore in a stable, but tired, condition.

The citation for the lifeguards said the new and experienced lifeguards worked well together to undertake the rescue in a dangerous environment. The outcome could have been potentially tragic if lifeguards hadn't been present that day. The club receives a $500 fuel voucher from BP to help with the financial costs of keeping communities safe in the water.