A teenager who died after she was pulled from a Hamilton motel swimming pool had lived in an orphanage, and had a promising teaching career ahead of her.

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

"It was 3-4m surf, and really, really dumping." Two teenage sisters fought 4m waves to save a man and four children at an unguarded surf beach.

Lifeguards are gearing up for the biggest weekend of the year as holidaymakers are set to throng popular beaches all over the country.

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.

A council bylaw making the wearing of lifejackets compulsory on small boats is about the changing face of Auckland, says Watersafe Auckland chief executive Sandra Harrop.

The father and daughter who died in a tragic kayaking accident on Lake Tarawera yesterday have been named by police.

More details are emerging of a father's desperate attempts to save his young daughter before both died in a Rotorua lake yesterday.

Thousands of Auckland children are becoming more confident in the water, thanks to a city-wide project teaching them how to swim.

A grieving mother is pleading with parents never to leave their young children alone in water after her infant son drowned in a bath.

This summer, water safety messages will be seen on 600,000 tray mats in KFC restaurants around the country.

The surf lifesaving season kicked off without any serious incidents at Hot Water Beach, but lifeguards there fear that won't last long.

Media personality Duncan Garner is swapping his blazer for a lifejacket this summer - and is calling on boaties to remember theirs too.

A Bluff woman has been named New Zealand's champion of water safety.

United Future and the Maori Party have teamed up to block the Government’s major reforms of the Resource Management Act.

A multi-language campaign to get West Auckland rock fishers to wear lifejackets is struggling to make headway against an undercurrent of risky behaviour.

A former surf lifeguard who stripped down to his boxers to rescue a drowning man is among a handful of Wellingtonians whose bravery was recognised tonight.

The risk of emergency overflows of sewage into the Manukau Harbour for a further 50 years is being highlighted by community groups.

A law change to limit how long companies can discharge pollution into New Zealand's waterways has been shot down by a parliamentary select committee.

A Papakaio family on board a boat that sank on Lake Benmore on Sunday, have been praised for their safety precautions and keeping calm during the ordeal.

Concerns about the safety of the high-tech America's Cup catamarans have increased after a training accident yesterday involving Swedish team Artemis that killed British sailor Andrew Simpson.