Deadly stretch of Waikato is magnet for city thrill-seekers

Heavy rain in the Taupo catchment means the Waikato will run high this week. Picture / Greg Bowker

Up to 50 thrill-seekers frequently swim a highly dangerous stretch of the Waikato River feared to have claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy at the weekend.

Kori James Dinsdale, 15, a student at Fairfield College in Hamilton, went missing on Sunday about 1.30pm when he got into trouble swimming from Hammond Park in Hillcrest.

A friend who was with Kori tried to save him, but had to abandon his efforts in order to get back to the riverbank himself.

The current was swift and Kori was last seen being pulled in towards the middle of the river, with his head sinking below the surface.

He is presumed to have drowned.

Police said yesterday that dive teams were on standby, but conditions were too dangerous and murky to make an underwater search possible.

A police boat was used to check the river's banks, and Kori's family were also searching from a small rubber dinghy.

Family spokeswoman Selina Elliott said most of the extended family were walking the riverbanks to find Kori. Sourcing another boat had been difficult, she said.

Uncles, aunts and cousins had combed the riverbank on foot in Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Pukete and yesterday 14 family members walked the river paths throughout the city.

Ms Elliott said Kori was not a sporty person, and he was not known for swimming.

"He's more arty, he likes drawing. He was a typical teenager, but more the sit-at-home-and-play-PlayStation type."

The river is unusually high for this time of the year. After recent heavy rain in the Lake Taupo catchment, it rose suddenly by 2m about midday on Saturday and is expected to remain high for most of this week.

Mighty River Power spokesman Neil Williams said Lake Taupo rose 11cm on Friday and the gates were opened at the weekend for full flows from the lake.

Yesterday, the Herald spoke to two 18-year-olds, who intended to swim from the same bank where Kori is understood to have entered the river.

They said the spot was an excellent one from which to ride the strong current.

"There was a whole family down here last weekend with rubber rings. They just about had a picnic in the middle of the rings, floating down the middle of the river," said John McDonald.

Up to 50 people swam the deadly stretch of river most weekends during summer, he said.

The river's width in the area varies from about 50m to 150m, and there are sweeping bends that generate large whirlpools.

Mr McDonald's friend Kane Olsen said the current was particularly fast and the river's condition looked dangerous. "It's higher than it usually is.

"You go in to the current and float down about 300m, and there's a beach down there where it goes calm," he said.

However, swimmers had to ensure they kept to the east side of the river, because the water dropped away suddenly towards the middle.

A 20m cliff towers above the Waikato on the western bank, where the river is at its deepest.

Despite the presumed drowning and their comments about the river's condition, the 18-year-olds were not deterred from launching themselves from the riverbank on their boogie boards yesterday.

There are no council signs warning people of the dangers of swimming in the area. Hamilton City Council spokesman Philip Burton said signage was sometimes damaged or taken down.

"This is a tragedy but people do tend to ignore the conditions of the river and some of the warnings that do exist.

"We're relying on members of the public to leave it [signage] alone for the safety of others. I guess it's there but it's not a total safeguard - it's just one aspect of the river safety scenario."

Signage at another popular swimming location downstream, Wellington St beach, has been defaced and is unreadable.

Steve Culhane, who paddled a recreational outrigger up to Wellington St beach yesterday, said the school holidays had drawn scores of young people to the river.

"The river's been lower and people swim in it for a while," the former firefighter said.

"Then it rises and its behaviour is completely different, lots of eddies and strong currents.

"The calm surface lulls people into a false sense of security."

Tragic record

Of the Waikato region's 180 drownings in the past 10 years, the Waikato River has claimed 41 of the lives.

Nine of the Waikato River drownings have happened in Hamilton City.

All nine city drownings happened in January, February or March:

February 1996: Victim caught in a whirlpool near Pukete pedestrian bridge.

February 1996: Suicide, body found in river.

March 1997: Swimmer caught in current while attempting to cross the river.

January 1998: Drowning in the city but body located in Huntly.

March 1998: Horse-rider exercising animal in river fell off and got caught in a whirlpool.

February 2005: Three girls drowned after the car they were in plunged from the Cobham Drive bridge.

March 2005: Man jumped in river trying to evade police.Source: Water Safety New Zealand