Four water-related deaths in 24 hours: Stay safe, be cautious around water, says Water Safety

• Water Safety New Zealand reports a rise in water-related deaths, with four incidents in 24 hours.
• Chief executive Daniel Gerrard expressed concern, noting the year’s drowning tally is nearing 70.
• Gerrard emphasised the need for better supervision and water safety education, particularly for older men.

By RNZ

A spate of water-related deaths in the past 24 hours is a tragedy, Water Safety New Zealand says.

On Saturday night, a child died after a water-related event at Motutawa Avalon Park in Lower Hutt, and a man who leapt from a boat into the water off Whakatāne and could not be revived.

A search is still under way for a man who jumped from a Hamilton bridge into the Waikato River on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning, a man died after a medical event at Eastbourne Beach, in Lower Hutt.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard said the rise in deaths was a worry.

At the start of December, the year’s provisional tally of fatal drownings was at 61 deaths: 26% lower for that time of year, based on the 10-year average.

“We were tracking well below the 10-year average, up until about a week ago, and clearly now, things are starting to track back to what is our normal in New Zealand.

A water safety campaigner is reminding people to be safe around the water, following a horror 24 hours of deaths. Photo / Greg Bowker

“Once again, an incredibly tragic weekend,” Gerrard said.

“Our predictive modelling did suggest that we would unfortunately end up closer to 70, which now appears to be the close.”

“And we’ve still got a couple of long summer weeks to go, before the end of the year.”

There were 94 drowning deaths in 2022 – the largest loss of life in New Zealand waterways from the past decade, and a figure that Gerrard described at the time as a “national disaster”. The year showed a spike in drownings particularly in men over 55 years old, and 85% of those who drowned in 2022 were male.

In 2023, there were 90 preventable drownings, including six deaths connected to Cyclone Gabrielle. Of the 2023 tally, 83% were male.

Gerrard said as the year warms up and things get busier, people take more risks.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard.

Often people’s perception of how competent or confident they are in the water does not align with either the conditions or situations they get themselves into.

He said data showed older European men were the most likely to make bad choices on the water.

While this group engaged in more water activities, the choices they made also often impacted the people they were with.

“In some cases, out on a boat and not wearing lifejackets, jumping off things without having a good look at the conditions.”

Better water safety education for the generations since was likely part of the explanation for higher drowning figures among men over 55 years old, Gerard previously told RNZ.

Stay within arm’s length of children

Gerard said supervision was another aspect of water safety.

“Making sure those people that you’re with, those who are under your care, are within arm’s reach. If we’ve got little New Zealanders in and around water, we want people to be within contact.

“We feel that being within arm’s reach, enjoying those environments with our little people, keeps them safer and puts them much less at risk”.

In the last two years, water-related deaths had been plateauing, and there were pleasing improvements for some groups, he said.

“Our primary school-aged kids and the next age group up really seem to be behaving much better. Their risk-taking is way down and their drowning rate is considerably down.

“It’s one of the reasons we’re suggesting the 10-year average (of 83 deaths annually), might be trending in the right direction.

“But unfortunately we still have some poor decisions and choices being made, that are having significant impacts on the friends, family and loved ones of those who don’t come home.”

- RNZ

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