PARADE’S CHEQUERED HISTORY

Waves along Marine Parade can be extremely dangerous for swimming.

There were at least four deaths and several other rescues in the surf off Marine Parade in the 15 years to early 2008.

A 68-year-old English tourist died on February 13, 1996; a girl aged 4 died on March 31, 1997; a woman, 44, died, on April 26, 2006; and a boy, aged 5, died on January 29, 2009.

The dangers on Pacific Beach, off Marine Parade, have not been confined to swimming, with at least three people plucked by the waves and dragged out beyond the breakers, unable to get back to shore and needing to be rescued.

On Monday January 31, 1994, a Danish tourist, aged 58, reported to have been a former international swimming champion, was strolling with her husband between near Marineland (now the site of BaySkate) when she disappeared into the sea, apparently carried out by a wave which rose from nothing only a metre or two from the water’s edge.

She trod water beyond the waves for at least 30 minutes before a surf lifesaver drove past and plunged through the waves and returned the woman to shore, just as a rescue helicopter was approaching the scene.

Just a few weeks later, on March 17, 1994, a 17-year-old girl on a late-evening stroll with a friend disappeared in similar conditions. She was heard screaming for help beyond the breakers and a constable undressed and leapt into the waves to rescue the teenager, guided by a searchlight held by another officer on shore.

In February last year, a young man was rescued by the Hawke’s Bay Coastguard as he clung to a campervan’s portable toilet, which was thrown to him as a flotation device, in the same area as Friday’s tragedy.

The incidents in the 1990s led to warning signs on the beach about heavier conditions, and police vehicles were equipped with surf rescue tubes.