Cooper Halligan wants to make a name for himself, starting this weekend at the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Championships in Ohope.

Scott Martlew hasn't let the loss of a leg stop him doing what he loves.The 21-year-old surf canoeist will compete in the national surf lifesaving championships, which started at Ohope Beach.

Mitch Cowdrey has already tasted victory in a highly competitive battle of sibling rivalry but now he has bigger goals in mind.

Half an hour before Fiona Gooder died while trying to save her foster daughter at a Northland beach, she sent her husband a text saying she "was in paradise".

Surf Life Saving and long-time sponsor DHL are marking their 10-year partnership with a photography exhibition in Auckland which celebrates surf lifesavers' yellow and red uniforms.

A teenage girl caught in a rip had stopped breathing by the time lifeguards plucked her, limp and grey, from the sea.

He's won national titles and represented New Zealand, but Nick Malcolm's latest surf lifesaving achievement tops them all.

Surf lifesaving clubs up and down the country are preparing for the first day of the season patrolling New Zealand beaches.

Surf lifesavers are launching their summer patrols over Labour Weekend, but a mixed bag of weather could deter some would-be beachgoers from taking a splash.

A former surf lifeguard who stripped down to his boxers to rescue a drowning man is among a handful of Wellingtonians whose bravery was recognised tonight.

Efforts in one of the year's most harrowing rescue bids went unmentioned at last night's surf life-saving awards because those involved in the fatal Muriwai shark attack refused to have their names put forward.

One of the sunniest summers in more than 50 years saw almost 600 extra people rescued from NZ beaches during the patrol season compared to the year before.

Lifeguards are frustrated at the lack of preparedness shown by 10 Korean fishermen who needed rescuing from a precarious position on a rock in Port Waikato.

It's the biggest and most prestigious event on the New Zealand surf lifesaving calendar and this year, the carnival came to a sun and swell-drenched Mount Maunganui. Music: "Follow the Sun" by Xavier Rudd (xavierrudd.com) Additional GoPro footage courtesy of Mark Bourneville/Piha SLSC. courtesy Dscribe Journalism.

The nights are the worst for George Maoate, the 14-year-old who was surfing next to Adam Strange when the popular Muriwai local was fatally attacked by three sharks.

Olympic champion Lisa Carrington picked up another national title on an extraordinary first day of the New Zealand surf lifesaving championships in Mt Maunganui.

When a scared child sought help for a man drowning at Omanu Beach, teens Josh Jarvis and Fletcher Swan called on all their lifesaving skills to haul the man to safety.

A 14-year-old rookie lifeguard has been hailed a hero after racing into the see to help three men and a child stuck in a rip.

Aucklanders' rates have given a $46 million boost to 10 rescue, safety, arts and cultural groups in the past four years and a further $14 million gift is proposed for the 2013-14 year.