Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty surf clubs ride away with national awards

Bay of Plenty Times
23 Sep, 2019 09:53 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service club coach John Bryant. Photo / File

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service club coach John Bryant. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty surf lifesavers have taken out half of this year's national awards.

They were among dozens of heroic lifeguards, selfless volunteers, and world champion athletes who were finalists at the Surf Life Saving NZ Awards of Excellence at Te Papa at the weekend.

Mount Maunganui's John Bryant was named Coach of the Year, Jo Miller, of Pāpāmoa, was named Surf Official of the Year, Volunteer of the Year was Rachelle Bright, of Whangamatā, Lifeguard of the Year was James Lloyd, of Waihī Beach, and the Wāhine on the Water team won Innovation of the Year (including Phoebe Havill from Onemana and Julia Conway and Philip Pirie from Mount Maunganui).

Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club member Julia Conway (back left) on duty in 2011. Photo / File
Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club member Julia Conway (back left) on duty in 2011. Photo / File

There were between six and 12 finalists in each category.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rachelle Bright has been Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club's captain for the past three seasons.

In the past year she was a junior surf coach, new lifeguard instructor, and helped organise training courses.

Regionally she has been a lesson designer, patrol auditor, instructor and examiner, was chair of the area lifesaving committee and contributed to peer support.

"For the past 10 years Rachelle has held a range of roles within the club, dedicated herself to the club, implemented new initiatives, and has been a positive influence on all members throughout the entire season," new club captain Max Jones said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club patrol site. Photo / File
Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club patrol site. Photo / File

Meanwhile, Waihī Beach Lifeguard Services said James Lloyd put in many hours of hard work to support their strong contingent of lifeguards, and had formed an enthusiastic lifeguard sub-committee, which had been successfully ticking off goals to benefit the club.

The Wāhine on the Water team brainstormed a way to encourage more women to feel comfortable qualifying as IRB drivers and in other senior roles.

They launched a series of women-mentored training days that have now been extended nationally.

There are 74 Surf Life Saving NZ clubs throughout the country, and all are run by volunteers.

Discover more

Bay of Plenty surf life savers national award finalists

18 Sep 04:51 AM

How Bay people have worked through their emotional pain

22 Sep 05:00 PM

How riding waves in fluro changed the lives of hundreds worldwide

21 Sep 10:00 PM

Local 'angel' helps competitor in uncomfortable predicament

02 Oct 06:50 AM

"We have seen some great new innovations to improve our services, like the Wāhine on Water programme, which will see the organisation creating a solid future," senior executive Matt Warren said.

"We have thousands of members that put in a massive amount of work both on the beach and behind the scenes to ensure we keep saving lives. It is great to recognise some of the hardest workers like Rachelle Bright, Volunteer of the Year and James Lloyd, Surf Lifeguard of the Year, for the work they have done."

Throughout the country there are 18,832 club members, including 4903 lifeguards.

Surf Life Saving NZ said in the 2018/19 year surf lifesavers saved 702 people from life-threatening situations, and between July 1 to June 30 they helped 1622 people to safety from dangerous situations.

It took part in 381 searches, provided first aid 2578 times, and took preventative action to keep people safe on the beach 118,307 times.

- Supplied content

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Complete list of wider Bay of Plenty club members who were national finalists

Volunteer of the Year
Rachelle Bright – Whangamatā
Andrew McDowell – Pukehina

Innovation of the Year
Wāhine on the Water – Coromandel
Vivien Conway - Mt Maunganui

Lifeguard of the Year
James Lloyd – Waihī Beach
Haven Bellamy – Ōmanu

Instructor of the Year
Hamish Clayton – Waihi Beach
Ryan Hohneck – Pāpāmoa

Surf Official of the Year
Jo Miller – Pāpāmoa

Coach of the Year
John Bryant – Mt Maunganui

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rescue of the Year
Whangamatā
Pāpāmoa
Waihī Beach

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
Sport

'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

12 Jul 03:58 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

The 16-year-old Tauranga runner lowered his own national U17 and U18 1500m records at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Los Angeles. Video / Athletics NZ

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

12 Jul 03:58 AM
'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

11 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP