Nine pulled from notorious rip
Nine Port Waikato beachgoers are lucky to be alive – discovered and saved minutes before off-duty lifeguards left the beach.
It was 6pm on Saturday, January 25, when Shane Edwards was about to clock off.
The club captain of the Sunset Beach Lifeguard Service was driving away when he was stopped by one of his crew.
‘‘I was heading out the driveway to grab some dinner and everyone started running out.’’
The crew of seven lifeguards would usually be gone by then.
However, that evening they kept an eye on the surf after hours, just in case.
‘‘We decided to keep two watching for another hour . . . because it was still quite busy,’’ said Edwards.
But as the beach cleared and the crew began packing away their gear, the two noticed a group of latecomers being dragged out to sea.
Swimming out to the group, Edwards said, it was obvious they were in ‘‘serious trouble’’ with one struggling to hold the head of a 5-yearold above water.
‘‘None of them could swim, they had their faces sticking up . . . . gasping for air.
‘‘A surfer had come over and he was helping a few of them with his board.’’
The crew used rescue tubes to keep them afloat while the lifeguards on shore dashed out with the club’s inflatable rescue boat (IRB).
It was only with everyone safely ashore that they realised there were nine people.
‘‘They just kept coming,’’ Edwards said.
Sunset Beach Lifeguard Service president Malcolm Beattie said those rescued were extremely lucky that night.
‘‘They should go and buy a Lotto ticket.
‘‘Ten or 15 minutes later, if [the lifeguard service] were gone, considering where they were in the riptide, and the fact that their swimming capability was about zero ... none of them would have got out.’’
According to Water Safety New Zealand, the number of beach drownings last year spiked to 26 compared with 20 in 2018.
Beattie said Sunset Beach was known for its riptides and the decision by the group to take to the water was ‘‘foolhardy’’. ‘‘There is no way they should have gone in at an unpatrolled beach west coast beach in the twilight of the evening.
‘‘There were no flags on the beach but they still ploughed in.’’
However, he believed it was possible some of the group were not familiar with New Zealand beaches.
He said he was proud of his team but not surprised by their performance. ‘‘That is what they train for, responding quickly and efficiently to situations that include mass rescues.’’
From Raglan to the Far North, northern regional lifeguards have saved 114 people from drowning in the year to January 31.
Sunset Beach carried out 26 of those rescues, the most of any service in the northern region.
And last year they rescued 40 – the most of any New Zealand volunteer lifeguard service.
The club has won numerous awards, including the title of northern region club of the year and have won the New Zealand IRB Championship for the past four years.
The crew that saved the nine included Taylor Shrimpton, Hogan Shrimpton, Sam Coughlan, Robbie Shrimpton, Caitlin Stuart and Mark Edwards.
Last summer, lifeguards saved 702 people from drowning nationwide.