‘Hectic’ conditions prompt SLSNZ warning for Mount Maunganui beachgoers

Surf Lifesaving New Zealand is bringing in extra resources and considering extending patrol hours due to the number of people getting into trouble in the water along the Mount Maunganui coastline.

“Hectic” beach conditions have meant people entering the water have been getting caught in inshore holes and rips and experiencing trouble when trying to come back to shore. Many have been trying to swim against rips and exhausting themselves in the process.

On Boxing Day alone, there were 10 rescues involving 19 people, three assists involving five people who got into difficulty in strong currents, one beach search, plus minor first aid needed in the Bay of Plenty area. That same day and follow morning, three people drowned throughout New Zealand.

Surf Lifesaving NZ Eastern Region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said most of the rescues were happening outside of the red and yellow flagged areas at Tay St and by Leisure Island.

He was concerned that an incoming swell, expected today, would make the water more dangerous for people getting caught out. The swell is expected to “hang around” for most of the week.

Chaz Gibbons-Campbell, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand's Eastern Region lifesaving manager. Photo / NZME

“We urge people to swim between the flags. We don’t have oodles of lifeguards...”

They were seeing a lot of people swimming against rips.

He earlier advised anyone getting caught in a rip to remember the three ‘R’s: “Relax, ride the tide, and raise your hand.”

Gibbons-Campbell said there were always lifeguards on duty when flags were up, but outside of the flags there was probably just one lifeguard roaming, so the chances of rescue were less likely.

“We are not always there. It’s a long piece of coast to watch; hundreds of heads in the water.”

“Lifeguards say it’s just hectic” because of the sheer number of holes and rips along the Mount Maunganui coast, Gibbons-Campbell said.

“A lot of people are just going in from their local accessway or from where they are staying and they will swim for 10 to 15 minutes, drift down the beach, and go to come back in and find themselves in an inshore hole which starts pulling them down the back.

“They get quite exhausted.”

A couple rescued on Boxing Day were so exhausted they were bobbing themselves up to the water’s surface for each breath, he said.

Extra resources such as the water rescue jetski were being brought in, especially in light of the concerns for people’s safety amid the conditions and incoming swell.

Extending patrol hours was also being considered.

Already, there are 22 council-funded lifeguards on duty from 10am to 6pm daily at the region’s busiest beaches.

Gibbons-Campbell urged any beachgoers who felt the surf on the main coast may be too big to consider other beach options such as Shark Alley or Pilot Bay.

Earlier this week, Omanu lifeguards patrol captain Dennis Mundy also urged people to swim between the flags.

“There are rips right along the beach from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa [...]”

Of the three drownings from Boxing Day, one involved a man who died following a water incident at Cape Runaway, Ōpōtiki. Another person was pulled from water at a Pukekohe address but died at the scene, and a swimmer died at Kaitoke Regional Park in Upper Hutt early yesterday morning.

A man also died after a canoe capsized on Lake Roto Kohatu in Harewood, Christchurch, on Christmas Day. Two people were in the canoe and one was rescued, but the man did not resurface. His body was recovered yesterday.

Message not getting through to older men - water safety boss

A water safety boss says the message is not getting through to men over the age of 55 when it comes to being safe in the water.

So far this year, 10 people have drowned in the Bay of Plenty.

Water Safety NZ figures obtained by NZME showed one drowning happened while fishing, one while surfing, two while kayaking, two while swimming, two while diving, and two involved falls into the water.

The drownings occurred at beaches, as well as at a lake, a river, and a harbour bar.

Six of the drownings happened in January this year.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard said the figures served as a reminder to people to take caution when entering waterways or the ocean.

The most important message he could relay to people was “if in doubt, stay out”, he said.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard.

“Swim at a patrolled beach, swim between the flags, have a good look before you leap [in rivers].”

Gerrard said there were three main areas of concern this summer: men aged over 55, kai gathering, and rivers.

Eighty-nine people have drowned in New Zealand so far this year. At the same time last year, 86 people had drowned.

Gerrard said men over 55 made up the majority of the fatalities.

It was believed older men appeared to be risk-takers, and incidents happened mostly while boating in the upper North Island.

Nationally, 77 per cent of men over 55 who drowned were not wearing lifejackets, or if they were, they were not being worn correctly.

Gerrard said this was a problem also reflected in kai gathering which involved fishing from a boat, angling from land, or diving to take kai moana.

People angling were typically doing so from rocks at a beach, before being swept away by a wave, or falling from rocks into the water, then finding themselves unable to get back to land.

“Almost inevitably, they do not have a lifejacket.”

Rivers were also a concern because people generally did not appreciate how hazardous they could be.

In an open letter to New Zealand men, Gerrard said about 30 Kiwis, mostly male, would die over the next two months through drowning.

“We’ve all been ‘that guy’ who made bad decisions around the water, and we’ve all been ‘that guy’ who thought, ‘She’ll be right’, but I promise you, it’s only [due to] luck and not skill that you’re still with us today.”

Gerrard urged people to remember they may not be as good in the water as they were when they were 20.

“No-one is coming to save you. If you want to get home safely this summer, we need to man up and look after our mates.”

Yesterday, Gerrard said it was disappointing that the message was not getting through.

“We need to do something more dramatic and get them to stop and think, in terms of their behaviour.

“They have been a cohort that has moved through the ages - 20 years ago they were the younger risk-takers, and now they appear to feel they are bulletproof. They have a bit more money for toys and they are getting themselves into trouble more often.”

The Bay of Plenty has the fourth-highest regional drowning rate in New Zealand.