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Big waves and mass rescues have made Piha Rescue a top-rating television reality show but lifeguards report fewer dramatic events so far this year to feed a new series.
"It's been a good year, with far fewer rescues," said Peter Brown, president of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club, which patrols the southern, or Lion Rock, end of Auckland's most popular west coast beach.
"The surf has not been that big, conditions are better, lifeguards are doing more preventions and we don't seem to have the idiots we used to," said Mr Brown.
As many as 5000 people on one afternoon are watched over by Piha lifeguards. Watching, too, are film-maker Eric Derks and his crew. They set up their gear to capture fresh action after Piha Rescue series three made the finals for best reality at the 2007 Air New Zealand Screen Awards.
Past episodes have shown semi-conscious swimmers pulled from dangerous surf after being dragged by rips and slammed into rocks.
But this year lifeguards have been busy pulling swimmers out of a big hole that formed in the middle of the beach. Club general manager Rob Wakelin said thankfully the hole seemed to have weakened rips near rocks "where things get dicey".
Lifeguards closely watched for swimmers nearing the hole and the club was proactive in warning them and others of dangers - before they get into trouble and need rescuing.
Mr Brown said Piha Rescue had not only shown the "human side" of surf life saving but its realism also had influenced swimmers' behaviour for the good. "The public are way more educated, with the message 'swim between the flags' getting across.
"It's helped nationally too, with people relating situations to their own beaches and following the rules better."
Members of the Piha and North Piha surf clubs are also grateful for the show's lifting their profiles and attraction to sponsors. Club members were last year urged to support the show's TV One screenings because the prospects of a new season depended on how the early episodes rated.
United North Piha president Rob Ferguson said Mr Derks and crew must be "really struggling because the beach has been safe this year".
His counterpart Mr Brown said: "You never know what's going to happen with Piha but at the moment his [Mr Derks'] content would not be huge."
Asked yesterday, Mr Derks said he was not concerned about lack of content for the series. "There will be plenty. It's all going well."
