Surf Life Saving NZ lifeguards. Photo: Kim Baker Wilson.<\/p>\n
The man made the wise decision to return to shore, where another bystander grabbed a surfboard and his children\u2019s lifejackets before paddling out to the woman. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe put a lifejacket on her and stayed with her until help arrived, which was just awesome,\u201d Gibbons-Campbell said.<\/p>\n
The rescue unfolded about 500 metres offshore as the tide was heading out. The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter was placed on standby because of the distance involved.<\/p>\n
Lifeguards from the P\u0101p\u0101moa Surf Life Saving Club launched their inflatable rescue boat (IRB) and reached the pair after being guided from the beach by lifeguard Poppy Crouch in the club\u2019s ATV. <\/p>\n
Patrol Captain Marama Mateparae and crew member Sean Leach brought the woman and her rescuer safely back to shore, where she was assessed by Hato Hone St John Ambulance staff before going home.<\/p>\n
Surf Life Saving NZ encourage swimmers to swim between the flags. Photo \/ SLSNZ<\/p>\n
Mateparae said the call came through SurfCom after police were alerted by members of the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cA guy had swum after her to try and grab her, then realised it was too strong and came back in \u2014 which was a fantastic judgement call,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnother man, who was there with his daughters, put on a lifejacket himself, took another out on his surfboard, and got it on her. By the time we reached them, they were floating out, but they were safe and not going under.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mateparae said the woman, a confident local swimmer, had simply misread the conditions, where a rip can be masked by a patch of calm water. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe was swimming in a rip,\u201d she said. \u201cShe did the right thing by calling for help. A member of the public rang police, which was fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gibbons-Campbell praised the teamwork on display. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a full team effort \u2014 from the person in the tower who took the call, to the lifeguards who responded, and those who covered the beach while others went out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said they\u2019d love to hear from the surfer who helped. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was brave of them to paddle out and help somebody. We\u2019d like to give them some kudos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just after 4pm, lifeguards at nearby Mount Maunganui were called to another emergency \u2014 again outside the patrolled area, near Grove Ave.<\/p>\n
A woman had been struggling in the surf before being pulled to shore by members of the public. When lifeguards arrived, she had swallowed a significant amount of water and required oxygen before being handed over to St John paramedics.<\/p>\n
Lifeguards on patrol at Mount Maunganui. Photo: Jamie Troughton.<\/p>\n
Gibbons-Campbell said both rescues served as a timely reminder about the power of the ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of water movement out there, especially around the change of tides,\u201d he said. \u201cRips can form anywhere along the beach, and the calm-looking patches are often the most dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged swimmers to choose their spots carefully. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not at a patrolled beach, look for sandbanks where the waves are breaking evenly \u2014 that\u2019s a safer area.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also reminded beachgoers to never swim alone and to know how to float. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can lie on your back and keep your airway clear, you give yourself a much better chance of survival while you wait for help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Volunteer patrols are now active at Mount Maunganui, \u014cmanu, and P\u0101p\u0101moa beaches every weekend from 11am to 4pm, with paid lifeguards to join from December.<\/p>\n
Tay Street patrols will begin on December 6, while P\u0101p\u0101moa East will see weekday patrols from December 22.<\/p>\n
The iconic Tay Street lifeguard tower will be installed at the end of November ahead of the busy summer season.<\/p>\n
Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Eastern Region lifesaving manager, Chaz Gibbons-Campbell. Photo: Supplied.<\/p>\n
Gibbons-Campbell encouraged the public to use the SafeSwim website (safeswim.org.nz) to find lifeguarded beaches and check real-time water safety information. <\/p>\n
\u201cSafeSwim now uses live data and weather forecasting to assess risk,\u201d he said. \u201cEven when lifeguards aren\u2019t on duty, it\u2019s a great tool for checking beach conditions before heading out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mateparae said Saturday\u2019s successful rescue came down to strong public awareness and teamwork. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great outcome, and we were really happy we were able to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
On deciding whether to go swimming, Gibbons-Campbell said, \u201cif you\u2019re ever in doubt, stay out\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd take care of others \u2013 which this surfer absolutely nailed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Surf Life Saving NZ lifeguards. Photo: Kim Baker Wilson. The man made the wise decision to return to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,9525,8452,8223,78,19755,424,47671,17707,4754,13233,111,43,139,69,23282,3109,52086,82108,1534,11590,915,18694,87540,12637,1237,87539,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-125837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-caught","10":"tag-dangerous","11":"tag-forces","12":"tag-in","13":"tag-join","14":"tag-life","15":"tag-lifeguards","16":"tag-maunganui","17":"tag-members","18":"tag-mount","19":"tag-new-zealand","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-ppmoa","24":"tag-public","25":"tag-rescues","26":"tag-rips","27":"tag-saturday","28":"tag-save","29":"tag-saving","30":"tag-surf","31":"tag-swimmers","32":"tag-together","33":"tag-two","34":"tag-worked","35":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}