Zizi Sparks: Spotting a rip should be part of swimming lessons

On average, five people fatally drown in rip currents on our beaches each year and a further 700 people need rescue. Photo / File

OPINION

I've never been a strong swimmer. I'm perfectly happy to swim at flat, calm beaches or in lakes and to stay at a depth where I can still touch the sandy sea or lake bed.

I was mediocre at swimming sports - but hated losing so was once disqualified for using normal kicking technique in a butterfly race.

I love the water and cooling off in summer but I play it safe.

So the results of a Surf Life Saving New Zealand study released this week got me thinking.

The study, conducted at Muriwai Beach along with beach safety experts, found up to 78 per cent of beachgoers in New Zealand could not spot a rip.

I thought back to earlier in the month when my partner told me not to go in the water in a certain spot because there was a rip.

"Oh yes of course," I fudged it.

The reality is, I think I fall firmly into that statistic and the sooner that changes the better.

Rips are often mistaken for the safest place to swim because waves don't break in them. I love the calm sections of the ocean, so have I come close to being caught in one?

On average, five people fatally drown in rip currents on our beaches each year and a further 700 people need rescue.

That's almost two rescues a day if spread across the whole year but more than likely more than that concentrated into the warmer months.

It's a ridiculously high figure and it needs to be decreased.

I think back to when I learned to swim - although not well - and recall being taught to hold my breath in the swimming pool, to stroke, to breath all in the swimming pool.

I was never once taken to the ocean and told how to spot a rip and what to do if caught in one.

If you do get caught in a rip, you should remember the three Rs - Relax and float to conserve your energy, raise your hand to signal for help and ride the rip until it stops and you can swim back to shore or help arrives.

But it shouldn't get that far if children are taught how to identify rips early.

New Zealand is surrounded by oceans and children need to learn how to safely be around them.

Water education needs to change.