Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Opinion: Drowning is not a peaceful way to go

By Craig Cooper
Hawkes Bay Today·
4 Jun, 2019 06:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Big surf on beaches like Marine Parade isn't necessarily the cause of Hawke's Bay drownings

Big surf on beaches like Marine Parade isn't necessarily the cause of Hawke's Bay drownings

Having nearly drowned once, the notion that is it somehow a peaceful way to go is beyond me.

A poor swimmer, I took on a fast-flowing river breast-stroking at a slow pace on a beautiful day on an outgoing tide that fed into the ocean.

I made it through what I thought was the main current, and got caught out by a second current as I neared the shore.

There was nothing peaceful about it – I saw through a window of panic that I was tired and struggling, but I was lucky enough to have enough wits about me to lie on my back and let the current take me sideways.

Eventually, I was close enough to land and I made it ashore. It became a mental challenge – for a moment I did not believe I could make it, and it was terrifying.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was partly the catalyst to, at the age of 46, hire a coach to teach me how to swim. I had sat on the side of the pool, waiting for her to finish a lesson with some children.

"Let's see what you can do" said the coach.

Not much. I couldn't swim a length, or breath properly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Eventually though, I learned enough to swim 2km in a half ironman.

But, to this day, I am uncomfortable in the water, by no means a "natural" and terrified of drowning.

I am also in the 45-plus age group that, according to experts, has a disconnect between perception and reality when it comes to drowning risks.

That is, we over-estimate our ability and under-estimate the risk.

Discover more

Age group of 65-plus over-represented in drowning stats in Hawke's Bay

02 Jun 10:55 PM

Wyn Drabble: Doctorate in tiny things

05 Jun 08:00 PM

There are also some sad results in the 65-plus age group. Nationally, 17 people in this age group died in the past five years, with six people dying in Hawke's Bay.

Getting into difficulty taking a dip at the beach or in a swimming pool isn't necessarily the cause of deaths. Baths or any body of water where a slip or fall could prove deadly are a potential hazard.

Kiwis tend to consider the water a right - a right to drink, to take, and to swim in. Which means sometimes we over-estimate our ability and under-estimate the risk.

I've been there, done that. And never want to be there again.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: Deer's ill-fated dash to airport - 'I've hit the darn thing'

09 May 02:44 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Absolutely stunning': New $825m highway nears completion

09 May 01:12 AM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

58m wall, no 'fatal flaws': New details about dam for Heretaunga revealed

09 May 12:34 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: Deer's ill-fated dash to airport - 'I've hit the darn thing'

Watch: Deer's ill-fated dash to airport - 'I've hit the darn thing'

09 May 02:44 AM

It ran across suburban streets and the runway – then authorities intervened.

'Absolutely stunning': New $825m highway nears completion

'Absolutely stunning': New $825m highway nears completion

09 May 01:12 AM
Premium
58m wall, no 'fatal flaws': New details about dam for Heretaunga revealed

58m wall, no 'fatal flaws': New details about dam for Heretaunga revealed

09 May 12:34 AM
'The perfect excuse': Hastings trail lights up NZ Music Month

'The perfect excuse': Hastings trail lights up NZ Music Month

08 May 11:23 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP