It's been a horror start to the year, with 14 people dying during the Christmas holiday period, and water safety authorities branding it a "national tragedy".
Six drownings occurred in rivers in the Christmas New Year period, a significant jump on the five-year average of one. Four of these were in the Manawatū River.
Figures released by Water Safety NZ show half of the river fatalities occurred in the 25-34 age group.
Twenty-nine per cent of the drowning deaths - four out of 14 - occurred at beaches this holiday period, double the five-yearly average of two.
All but one of the drownings occurred in the North Island, in Manawatū-Wanganui, Waikato and in Auckland.
This week a man died in Auckland City Hospital a day after his boat flipped on the Tairua Bar while another was pulled from the surf at Mt Maunganui beach on Thursday and despite efforts from surf lifesavers could not be revived.
