Mount Maunganui surf lifesavers subjected to verbal abuse and physical altercation

A surf lifesaver was left in tears after a member of the public verbally abused her as she was returning to shore after going to the aid of a swimmer at Mount Maunganui beach.

The man then pushed another lifeguard who tried to intervene.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand issued a statement today in response to the incident that occurred at Tay St in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday around 3pm where two surf lifeguards received verbal abuse by an unidentified man.

“The incident began when a female surf lifeguard noticed a man wave at her. The man was standing at the water’s edge between the flags and did not appear to be in any difficulty,” the statement said.

“The surf lifeguard scanned the water, figuring that he may have been referring to another swimmer, but she could not spot anyone who appeared to be in difficulty.

“The man waved again and became agitated, pointing at someone ostensibly floating happily on their back behind the breakers and within the flagged area.

“The surf lifeguard had been monitoring this person, and figured this was the person the man was referring to,” the statement said.

“She determined to utilise a rescue board to paddle out and check on the welfare of the swimmer. As she ran past the man in the shallows, the man began verbally abusing her. Once the surf lifeguard reached the woman she indicated that she felt she may have swum out beyond a depth that was comfortable for her, and accepted an offer to be returned to shore on the rescue board.

“Once the surf lifeguard had returned the woman to shore, the man continued his abuse. This brought the surf lifeguard to tears, and she returned to the Tay St patrol tower,” the statement said.

“The man followed the surf lifeguard to the tower, continuing to hurl foul language and verbal abuse at her. Once she reached the tower, another surf lifeguard intervened in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The man then turned his attention to this surf lifeguard, and grabbed him forcefully before passing members of the public intervened and pulled the man away.

“At this point, the man and the woman left.”

Surf lifeguards have since spoken with police and the surf lifeguards involved are being offered support and have been provided with positive reinforcement.

SLSNZ Eastern Region Lifesaving manager, Chaz Gibbons-Campbell, said no level of abuse was acceptable to surf lifeguards who were “simply trying to perform their duty.”

“Most of our surf lifeguards are volunteers, who give up their own time to keep our coastlines safe.

“Any level of abuse directed towards our surf lifeguards, whether they are paid guards or volunteers, is completely unacceptable,” he said.

Gibbons-Campbell told the Bay of Plenty Times some of the things the man said to the lifeguard included “a few swear words” and “telling her that she wasn’t doing her job”.

He also told the lifeguard she was “useless” and that “she needed to respond faster”.

Gibbons-Campbell said lifeguards were trained to look for people in distress.

”This lady was obviously floating on her back out behind the breaks which, you know, she’s not in any immediate danger ... so lifeguards weren’t too concerned. But obviously, the husband was, which is a genuine concern that family members have for their loved ones.”

Gibbons-Campbell said lifeguards were “more than happy” to check on people in the water and report back on them.

”But they don’t come to work to be yelled at.

”We understand that when people are in a bit of distress that they’re not always calm. It’s just taking a couple of deep breaths and clearly communicate to the lifeguards what you are needing and they’re more than happy to do that.”

Gibbons-Campbell said the club was supporting the affected lifeguards and assured them they did the right thing in this situation.

He said the majority of interactions eastern region lifeguards were having with the public were “really positive”.

”This instance is pretty rare and probably an isolated incident.”