A teenage girl caught in a rip had stopped breathing by the time lifeguards plucked her, limp and grey, from the sea.

He's won national titles and represented New Zealand, but Nick Malcolm's latest surf lifesaving achievement tops them all.

More New Zealanders will be given first-aid treatment by lifeguards for injuries such as cut feet and marine stings this summer than rescued from the water, new research shows.

Surf lifesaving clubs up and down the country are preparing for the first day of the season patrolling New Zealand beaches.

Surf lifesavers are launching their summer patrols over Labour Weekend, but a mixed bag of weather could deter some would-be beachgoers from taking a splash.

Efforts in one of the year's most harrowing rescue bids went unmentioned at last night's surf life-saving awards because those involved in the fatal Muriwai shark attack refused to have their names put forward.

One of the sunniest summers in more than 50 years saw almost 600 extra people rescued from NZ beaches during the patrol season compared to the year before.

Lifeguards were supposed to finish up on Northland's patrolled surf beaches yesterday, but the long summer has seen Ruakaka volunteers staying on for next weekend as well.

Lifeguards are frustrated at the lack of preparedness shown by 10 Korean fishermen who needed rescuing from a precarious position on a rock in Port Waikato.

It's the biggest and most prestigious event on the New Zealand surf lifesaving calendar and this year, the carnival came to a sun and swell-drenched Mount Maunganui. Music: "Follow the Sun" by Xavier Rudd (xavierrudd.com) Additional GoPro footage courtesy of Mark Bourneville/Piha SLSC. courtesy Dscribe Journalism.

The nights are the worst for George Maoate, the 14-year-old who was surfing next to Adam Strange when the popular Muriwai local was fatally attacked by three sharks.

When a scared child sought help for a man drowning at Omanu Beach, teens Josh Jarvis and Fletcher Swan called on all their lifesaving skills to haul the man to safety.

A 14-year-old rookie lifeguard has been hailed a hero after racing into the see to help three men and a child stuck in a rip.

Aucklanders' rates have given a $46 million boost to 10 rescue, safety, arts and cultural groups in the past four years and a further $14 million gift is proposed for the 2013-14 year.

Paid regional lifeguards who started patrolling five Northland beaches on December 24 will stop working at Whangarei Heads, Ruakaka and Baylys Beach today.

A police office's dramatic rescue of two boys and a man stuck in a rip at a Bay of Plenty beach is a reminder for water users to be aware of the dangers, police say.