Lifeguards say spinal injuries are among the most serious incidents they see. Photo / Alex Cairns
Long days and warm weather may draw Bay of Plenty residents outdoors, but summer’s surge in activity comes at a cost of thousands of sports-related injuries, ACC says.
Some 7744 new claims for sports-related injuries in the Bay of Plenty region were lodged with ACC between December 2024 and February 2025.
In total, the ACC paid out $17,406,247 in recovery costs for the region’s 13,924 sports claims active – meaning at least one payment was made – during that summer period.
Nationally, ACC accepted about two million claims in 2024 at a cost of about $6.9 billion, with more than a million of those injuries occurring during the warmer months of October to March.
ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said each year, nearly 70,000 people were injured through outdoor recreation activities mainly enjoyed over the summer.
Most summer injuries happened during swimming, surfing, mountain biking, road and trail cycling, gym and fitness activities, DIY and household slips or falls, as well as farming and gardening.
“Summer is one of the best times of the year in Aotearoa, but our claims data show it is also a time when injuries peak.”
In 2024, ACC accepted 74,160 gardening-related injuries, which came at a cost of $117 million to help people recover.
There were also 22,773 DIY-related injuries, with $41m in recovery costs.
Whitaker said “most” of these injuries were predictable and therefore preventable.
“It is always better to prevent getting injured in the first place, so we can keep doing what we love.”
Whitaker told the Bay of Plenty Times that ACC wanted people to enjoy summer, knowing it was supporting them to stay injury-free.
“No one wants to begin their summer holiday with a trip to A&E while their mates are out having fun and enjoying summer.”
ACC’s Have a Hmmm campaign encouraged people to think when doing activities such as swimming, surfing, mountain biking, road cycling, trail cycling and more.
“We’ll be providing tips people can follow to avoid injury while they’re doing the things they love, so they can keep doing those things all summer long,” Whitaker said.
Sports or activities with the most active claims in the Bay of Plenty were fitness training/gym with 916, cycling with 776 claims, rugby union 446 and football 373.
There were 309 new surfing claims lodged last summer and 331 active claims for swimming.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand eastern region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said the Bay of Plenty had “some risky areas” along the coastline.
In-shore holes – “a deep trough close to shore that turns into a sand bank where the waves are breaking” – could leave people in over their heads “very” suddenly.
“With deep rip currents in the BOP this year, we think we could see a lot more incidents relating to rips this summer.”
Other incidents seen by lifeguards included “a lot” of cuts and bruises, as well as surfboard injuries such as fin cuts.
“Especially where someone’s come off their board and hit someone else or run over the top of them.”
Gibbons-Campbell said the most serious injury lifeguards dealt with were spinal injuries.
“Where a swimmer has caught a wave and gone headfirst into a sand bank, or a surfer has come off their board into shallow water.”
He said there would generally be a couple of spinal incidents per season.
“Though our colleagues up in Whangamatā once dealt with four spinal incidents in a week.”
His advice was to “always check the conditions, know your limits, don’t go alone, and if in doubt, stay out”.
Sport Bay of Plenty business services general manager Danene Jones said summer was the “perfect time” to get out and enjoy the outdoors.
Jones said surfing was an especially popular, and growing, sport nationwide.
“Surfing remains a favourite along our coastline, thanks to iconic surf breaks and a strong network of local surf schools.”
She said with “fantastic” summer weather across the Bay of Plenty, it was the perfect time to try something new or get back into summer sports.
“Planning ahead and knowing your limits are some good first steps to making sure that the new activity is fun and enjoyable for the whole family and something you want to do again.”
Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.