Tragedies on water start 2014

Police divers search for 19 year old Masterton man Jesse Barber who failed to surface in a swift and dirty Ruamahanga River while swimming with friends at Double Bridges on January 6.

THE first week of 2014 was a bleak one for water safety, bringing with it four suspected drownings.

In Wairarapa, 19-year-old swimmer Jesse Barber of Masterton drowned in the Ruamahanga River near Opaki, after he disappeared in a deep, turbulent pool while swimming with friends on January 7. Grieving family watched as police divers pulled his body from the river the next day.

Auckland man 40-year-old Peato Samele Ilalio is believed to have drowned in Katikati when he jumped off a wharf to retrieve a fishing rod on January 2. His line had been taken by a stingray.

The navy was conducting a sonar search when Mr Ilalio's body floated to the surface three days later.

Tauranga lawyer and former policeman Blair Kiddle, 42, died during a diving trip near Motiti Island on New Year's Day. He surfaced before disappearing beneath the water after suffering a cardiac arrest.

And in Wellington, 49-year-old boatie Uikilifi Peniamina is believed to be dead after falling off a boat at the mouth of the Hutt River on January 5.

Mr Peniamina was collecting fishing nets when he was swept into Wellington Harbour.

He was not wearing a life jacket at the time and his body had still not been found late last week. The deaths follow several other water tragedies in late 2013, including a father and daughter who drowned on Lake Tarawera when their kayak capsized.

Zoujie Cai, 40, tried desperately to hold his daughter, Zexuan's head above the water for up to eight minutes after her adult-sized life jacket slipped off before they both succumbed.

And two cousins died in Northland after three people were swept out to sea on December 28.

The trio had been fishing with nets in rough seas north of Maunganui Bluff. One of the men's bodies washed up two days later.

Despite the tragedies, drownings were at a record low last year, according to figures released by Water Safety New Zealand.

The figures show 81 people drowned in 2013, down from 98 in 2012.

While the overall decrease is promising, five preschoolers drowned last year - a jump on 2012.

Men - at 62 deaths, or 77 per cent of 2013's drownings - continue to be over-represented in the drowning toll.

The number of 6-year-olds who drowned was double the five-year average and equal to 2012.

Admittedly, New Zealand is a nation of islands and Kiwis are never far from the water.

But our drowning rate is double that of Australia and three times that of Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, says Water Safety NZ chief executive Matt Claridge.

"Overall, it's great that the toll is tracking down but 81 deaths is still a huge number ranking us among the worst in the developed world."