New Zealand's recent summer holiday period had the highest number of drownings in 25 years.
In what has been described as "a national tragedy", 14 people drowned in the holiday period, which extends from 4pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on January 5.
They were aged between 4 and 74, with the southernmost at Motonau Island in Canterbury and the northernmost at Kai Iwi Lakes in Northland.