Surf Life Saving NZ
Surf lifeguards patrolling this weekend (Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 January) performed 24 rescues across the country, with nine of those rescues conducted at Raglan as festival-goers celebrated Soundsplash. Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) says that, with summer now past halfway, surf lifeguards continue to see high beach numbers and increasing pressure on patrols, particularly at unpatrolled areas and during large events.
SLSNZ General Manager – Lifesaving, Andy Kent says surf lifeguards are responding to a combination of warm weather, large crowds and challenging coastal conditions.
“With more people heading to the coast and spending longer periods in the water, we’re continuing to see rescue numbers track higher than usual for this point in the season,” says Kent. “Many of these rescues are occurring outside flagged areas, where conditions such as rip currents can quickly catch people out.”
Kent says proactive lifeguarding remains critical as summer progresses.
“Our surf lifeguards are working incredibly hard to identify risks as early as possible, direct people to swim in the flagged area, and respond quickly when things go wrong. But the safest choice beachgoers can make is to swim at a patrolled beach and always stay between the red and yellow flags,” he says.
Beachgoers can use Safe Swim to check conditions, and to confirm whether a beach is patrolled by surf lifeguards.