Oreti lifeguard makes award finals
A builder by trade with a passion for the beach is a regional finalist in the Surf Life Saving Awards.
Fred Michael has been a member of the Oreti Surf Life Saving Club for five years and is one of the finalists in the Lifeguard of the Year category for the Otago-Southland Surf Life Saving New Zealand Awards.
During the past five years, the Southland beaches had become a lot busier especially Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, and Colac Bay, near Riverton, Michael said.
He loves the wildness of the southern beaches and believed more Southlanders were just enjoying being at the beach.
A highlight this year was being part of the team that helped with the water safety for swimmer Hannah Morgan, who completed a Foveaux Strait cross swim earlier this year.
Fellow club member Geoff Lewis is a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year category.
Otago-Southland Club Support Officer Maddie Crawford said choosing the finalists was a challenge because of the quality of nominees.
‘‘There’s no doubt OtagoSouthland’s lifeguards are a group of dedicated and talented people.
‘‘It’s been awesome to read about all of the hard work and milestones over the last year. We have a lot of people doing a lot of good work, and it’s an encouraging sign for the shape of our clubs. This is a really top group that put in a lot of time and energy into patrolling our beaches, promoting water safety, saving lives, upskilling lifeguards, and keeping our clubs running smoothly.’’
The awards will be held in Dunedin on May 3.