Top tips for summer water safety
The smell of chlorine, the bright blue water, flutter boards and excited shrieks echoing off the walls at the indoor pool.
Those are my memories of learning to swim. It’s a joy for kids and their parents.
As Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Jonty Mills puts it: ‘‘The water is our playground.’’
But it’s also dangerous and unpredictable.
Sadly, many Kiwis lose their lives to drowning every year - and it’s no exception in Northland where drowning incidents increase over summer.
Learning to swim is a necessity and it’s good for littlies to start taking dips with their parents and carers as soon as possible.
Little Dippers Swim School in Kerikeri starts teaching babies from just three months old.
Owner Karla McCaughan says the baby classes are about water awareness, education and teaching parents.
‘‘It’s about teaching hesitation and supervision - the goal is teach the kids and educate the parents.
‘‘For the 99 per cent of children in the under five age group that drown in New Zealand, it happens when the child finds water unattended.
‘‘So we’ve come up with stories and songs and we take a mascot along with us to teach children only to go in water with an adult.’’
The school started running free water safety mat-time visits to kindergartens, daycare centres and preschools in Kerikeri, Kaeo, Paihia and Waitangi five years ago, and hopes to extend the programme throughout the Far North.
‘‘They’re life skills so starting early is going to help our goal in achieving zero drowning in the under five age group,’’ McCaughan says.
‘‘Having an understanding and a healthy respect of water - we can start to teach vital life saving skills from really young.
‘‘Children that have swimming lessons have a better chance of survival around water - but nothing replaces supervision, that’s the key.’’
There have been 67 preventable drowning deaths in New Zealand as at November 30 this year, according to Water Safety NZ’s drowning data.
Of these, 14 happened in Northland.
It’s an increase from 11 preventable drownings in Northland in 2015, when a total of 86 people drowned in New
Zealand waters.
Mills says the sea, lakes, rivers and swimming pools are a big part of Kiwi culture.
But people need to be aware of the dangers, know their limits and avoid alcohol, he says.
He advises people to watch out for each other, supervise the young ones and keep them within eye contact as it takes less than a minute for a child to drown. Rivers are our biggest risk with 30 per cent of preventable drownings this year occurring in rivers.
‘‘We also want everyone to come home safely at the end of each day and to think about water safety,’’ Mills says.
‘‘We strongly encourage all boaties to wear life jackets. We know from the research that up to two thirds of recreational boating deaths would likely have been prevented had they been wearing life jackets.’’
‘‘Our waters are our playground. They can also be unpredictable and dangerous.’’
Whangarei Coastguard President Brian Whimp says the Kaipara Harbour tragedy on November 26 was a very different outcome from an incident several days later when a boat capsized with four people on board while crossing the Kawhia bar, south of Raglan.
‘‘It’s a timely reminder that lifejackets are important.
‘‘The incident at Kawhia bar; everyone had lifejackets on and everyone survived.
‘‘They’re the most important thing you can have on a boat.’’
He says boaties should check the weather, make sure lifejackets are fitted correctly for everyone, and have two forms of communication.
Having flares on board and letting someone know where you’re going and expected back are also vital, he says.
People should ensure their boat is running properly.