Matt Williams Surf Life Saving Northern Region CEO talks water safety and his top tips for keeping out of trouble. Video / NZ Herald
Surf life savers have set up patrols south of where a teenager disappeared while swimming at Karioitahi Beach two days ago, as a rāhui is placed over part of the popular southwest Auckland beach.
Hiran Joseph hasn’t been seen since he and two others got into trouble while in the water at Karioitahi Beach on Tuesday evening. The other two people made it back to shore.
A Westpac Rescue Helicopter, police Eagle, Coastguard and Surf Rescue have been involved in the search, but police confirmed this morning no trace of the 19-year-old had been found.
“Search efforts [are] ongoing”, a police spokesman said.
A Westpac Rescue Helicopter and other emergency services on Karioitahi Beach after the swimmer went missing on Tuesday.
“Please be aware that the rāhui is directly in front of the surf club north, so a patrolled area will still be set up south of the club and if you wish to head to the beach please do so but head south of the club.
“Our thoughts are with the family involved and our searches continue daily at this stage.”
Tauranga man Kerry Huggard was among those who drowned in New Zealand last year, losing his life in this stretch of water off Mt Maunganui in February. File photo / Alex Cairns
Three people have already drowned in New Zealand this year, compared to none at the same time last year, according to Water Safety NZ’s provisional drowning figures.
Their deaths came a day after three men got into trouble swimming at Te Henga/Bethells Beach on Auckland’s West Coast.
All three were pulled out of the water by Bethells Beach surf lifesavers, with one immediately given CPR. He was flown by Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter to hospital in a critical condition, but later died.
Two days before that tragedy, cousins aged 4 and 6 died when the utility terrain vehicle they were on went into the water at Waikainga in the Far North. Four others made it to safety.
Surf lifesavers have been the difference between life and death for many Kiwis who have got into trouble at the beach - but not everyone makes it home safely. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Males - especially those who are older - are overrepresented in New Zealand’s drowning statistics, making up more than 80 per cent of the 90 preventable deaths last year, according to Water Safety NZ’s provisional figures.
Fifty-eight per cent of those who died were aged over 45.
Last year’s figures - which included six people who drowned during Cyclone Gabrielle - were down on 2022′s 94 preventable drowning deaths, but higher than the 10-year average of 82.
Getting the message about being safe on the water through to older men is key in reducing our drowning statistics, Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard says.
New Zealand’s drowning numbers were “an older male problem to start with”, Water Safety NZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard told Newstalk ZB’s Tim Dower this morning.
“They’re a group of people we struggle to get any sort of message through to.
“I’m in that age group and understand we do have a feeling we’re bulletproof, we’re as strong as we are when we’re 20, but we can’t do what we could.”
Chris Casey pictured Mākaro/Ward Island in Wellington Harbour, soon after he nearly died on a return kayaking trip to the island from Petone.
On Boxing Day Water Safety NZ data cruncher Chris Casey told the Herald about his own brush with death after he fell from his kayak while on a day out in Wellington Harbour he was ill-prepared for.
“I was stuck out in the sea with a life jacket that wasn’t working, an upturned kayak, my phone gone and a radio I didn’t know how to use.”
Casey was lucky to make it home after kicking towards Matiu/Somes Island while clinging to his capsized kayak, but others aren’t so fortunate.
Behavioural change experts were needed to help reset Kiwi mindsets around water safety, and they were also encouraging those close to risk-takers to speak up as well, Gerrard said.
“It really is just trying to get the right message through. I believe it’s using whānau and family as a tool - the impact on them of you not coming home, that has to be something we have to be pushing further.”
Life jackets save lives and all boaties should wear them.
There were some positives, including fewer deaths in Northland - which had been overrepresented in drowning figures previously - and among boaties.
“[Drownings while] boating is incredibly reduced this year. We hope that messaging around lifejackets are staring to get through.
“They’re not big cumbersome bulky lifejackets anymore. They’re life protectors that are very small and compact, and shouldn’t stop you from putting it on.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
