Northland lifeguards stamp their mark on Northern Region Surf Lifesaving Awards

The hard work of Northland's volunteer lifeguards have landed many of them a finalist position for this weekend's regional awards. Photo / File

A pair of Northland volunteer surf clubs are vying for major awards at this year's Northern Region Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence.

This Saturday's awards evening in Auckland, acknowledging the season's best, features six Northland guards for individual awards and two Northland clubs up for a major honour each.

Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service is in the running for Rescue of the Year after a trio of lifeguards protected a seriously injured young boatie from a tragic ending.

Mike Ardern, Andrew Mumford and Mark Vercoe provided emergency first aid to the 21-year-old while they waited for the Northland Rescue chopper to winch him from his boat, 5km off Mangawhai Beach on January 17.

St John flight medic and rescue swimmer Leah Baker said the man was incredibly lucky to be alive.

Waipū Cove Surf Life Saving Club have their eye on Innovation of the Year after being named a finalist for their Emergency Callout Squad Coast Watchers service.

Picturesque scenes during patrol at Waipū Cove. Photo / File

The service involves a network of "spotters" along Bream Bay, who assist with search and rescue operations.

Waipū Cove was crowned the Emergency Callout Squad of the year for the Northern Region in May.

Northern Region Surf Lifesaving commended the club for its organisational and administrative excellence and the major steps taken to improve its search and rescue response.

Competition at this year's Awards of Excellence is tough with all 17 clubs within the Northern Region – which stretches from the Far North to Auckland – featuring.

Waipū Cove's Jaine Curran is a finalist for Instructor of the Year; fellow club member Lucy Manning is up for Rookie Lifeguard of the Year and Kerry Baker for Patrol Support of the Year; Far North Surf Rescue's Jessica Hone and Whangārei Heads' Lucy Stanley are finalists for under-19 Surf Lifeguard of the Year; and Tania Ahrens dons two club hats with Ruakākā and Kariaotahi for Surf Official of the Year.

Ruakākā lifeguards keeping Northlanders safe last summer. Photo / File

Surf Life Saving Northern Region chief executive Matt Williams said the achievements of this year's finalists reflect the very best of a year that was as rewarding as it was challenging.

"It is pleasing to note how well our membership responded in the face of significant challenges, and that for the most part these challenges brought out the very best in our membership as we brought our strength to bear in keeping New Zealanders safe on the coast."

Northern lifeguards rescued 148 people during the 2020-21 patrolled season and assisted another 264 before they got into serious difficulty. They also administered a significant level of first-aid by treating 730 individuals.

"All told, our guards chalked up almost 93,000 hours on patrol and intervened to avoid beachgoers getting into difficulty nearly 26,000 times."