Saving people's lives is the aim of an invention by three Otumoetai College students.
Hayden Christie, 15, Frano Gabric, 14, and Lachlan Farron, 15, entered the Young Innovator Awards with their invention Swim Safe App, which uses a cellphone camera to identify rip currents.
The boys were the supreme winners of 100 entries and 55 finalists from local colleges at the Thursday night awards.
They also took out the junior section and were awarded an internship with the awards' major sponsors, Locus Research and Woods Creative.
Lachlan said the boys came up with the idea collaboratively and it could not have been pulled off if they worked individually. "I'm a life guard at Omanu Surf Club and we thought it would be relevant to come up with an idea that had a community aspect for the Bay of Plenty region.