Swimmer drowns as his brother watches

A man watched from the shore as his brother got into trouble and drowned at a Coromandel beach on Christmas Eve.

Jason Anthony Johns’ death at Whiritoa beach, south of Whangamata, is being labelled preventable by the people who patrol the region’s beaches.

The 43-year-old’s death also comes just a day after Water Safety New Zealand urged people to take extra care in the water during the holidays, a known peak time for drownings. Last year 10 people drowned during the 10-day period.

Johns was swimming on Monday just 60 metres from a patrolled, flagged area, when he got into difficulty. He was pulled out of the ocean by lifeguards at Whiritoa but could not be revived.

‘‘Patrolling lifeguards were already walking towards the victim to advise him to swim between the flags but were unable to reach him prior to him getting into difficulties,‘‘ Senior Sergeant Rod Carpinter said.

Coromandel regional lifeguard supervisor Matt Williams said the saddest thing about Johns’ death was that it was preventable.

‘‘The flags were just 60 metres away and we’d put lifeguards on earlier in the season than we have in the past. It was a terribly dangerous day.’’

Williams said the man was the only one swimming in the water at the time but his brother was on shore looking on.

‘‘The flags were right there – we guarantee that where the flags are is the safest place.’’

Meanwhile, a Christchurch man who suffered suspected decompression sickness after diving in the Marlborough Sounds has been discharged from hospital.

A Nelson-Marlborough rescue helicopter crew picked up the 62-year-old from Waikawa Bay, near Picton, on Sunday.

The flags were just 60 metres away and we’d put lifeguards on earlier in the season than we have in the past. Matt Williams Regional lifeguard supervisor

Pilot Tim Douglas-Clifford said the man had been diving off a boat in Tory Channel, where the sea was about 20 metres deep.

Three adult family members were with the diver on the boat.

Decompression sickness, also known as the bends or divers’ disease, is where dissolved gases form bubbles in the body.

‘‘He had all the symptoms of coming up too fast,’’ DouglasClifford said.

The helicopter flew him to Christchurch Hospital for treatment in its decompression chamber.

He was the second diver airlifted from the Sounds at the weekend. On Saturday morning, a Life Flight helicopter crew from Wellington rescued an injured diver from Robin Hood Bay who had trapped his foot getting out of the water.

Life Flight crewman Colin Larsen said the South Island man in his 50s managed to release his foot but suffered moderate injuries to his leg.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter picked him up from a narrow beach backed by steep cliffs at 10am after a paramedic was winched on to a rocky outcrop. The diver was flown to Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim, where he was reported to be in a stable condition yesterday.