Taylor named top regional lifeguard

Lifeguards from two Northland clubs have taken away four awards at the 2016 Surf Life Saving Northern Region Awards of Excellence.

Ruakaka’s Kyle Taylor was named the Regional Lifeguard of the Year at the awards held on June 25 at Shed 10 on Auckland’s Queen’s Wharf.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region chief executive officer Matt Williams praised Taylor for promoting safer beach activities and mentoring younger lifeguards.

‘‘He is the rock of the service. His knowledge base skills and flexibility has proven him to be an outstanding and invaluable asset to the regional lifeguard service.’’

Service awards were also presented to Simon Bell, Dylan McCombe and Peter Hayward from the Waipu Surf Club.

Williams says all of the region’s members have made a huge contribution to surf lifesaving in the Northern Region throughout the 2015/16 season. Around 350 people attended the awards.

A total of 49 awards were presented to acknowledge the efforts of the surf life saving community.

Life guards worked more than 83,000 hours over summer, a 10 per cent increase on the summer of 2014/15, while visitor numbers at beaches totalled more than 453,000 people.

Importantly, there were no drownings ‘‘between the flags’’ at the 17 patrolled beaches between Ahipara and Raglan which makes up the Northern Region.