NZ drowning toll almost doubles | Oamaru News | Local News in Oamaru

As far as water safety goes, Waitaki residents are well off compared with the rest of New Zealand.

According to figures released by Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ), 2011 was a bad year for water safety, with a drowning toll almost double that of the previous year. In contrast, Waitaki seems to have escaped the worst of it.

WSNZ chief executive Matt Claridge has lived all his life in Dunedin, and from his recollection, North Otago has not traditionally been a high-risk area for drowning. Only one person drowned in the region last year.

Mr Claridge said the low toll was mainly due to Waitaki's smaller population, meaning the water features in the area had a lower scale of activity than other parts of the country.

The past decade has seen eight people drown in Waitaki. Two of the deaths occurred in rivers, two in harbours, while four happened in off-shore boating incidents. Six of the eight were  men older than 20.

Mr Claridge said there were some good water safety programmes offered in the region, especially at Oamaru's Waitaki Aquatic Centre.

The centre's supervisor, Jacque Donaldson, advised all parents to teach their kids to swim. The  centre offers private lessons for all age-groups and  a water survival skills programme. The  Waitaki Aquatics team works with WSNZ to help children learn to swim at least 200 metres by the age of 12.

"We're keen to make it affordable and try to subsidise school groups," Mrs Donaldson said.

She advised that all children  8 and under should be supervised at all times near water, and children  5 and under should always be kept within arms reach.

"There is always risk involved, even including in the bath tub," she said.

It was important to teach children to swim, because when they become teenagers, swimming was not cool anymore, she said. Six people drowned in Otago in 2011, the same as 2010's toll, but Mr Claridge said there is no room for complacency: "One death is one too many. We need to continue to work to make water safety top of mind and get our drowning toll down."

Nationwide, 123 people drowned in 2011, up 41 per cent on the previous year, and the worst  toll on record since 2003. WSNZ said the national toll is also well up on the five-year average of drownings annually,  at 111 deaths.

Mr Claridge says an increase of such magnitude is extremely disappointing.

"To go from a record low in 2010 to an eight-year high in 2011 is a tragedy and we will continue to do everything we can to inform and educate people about water safety to ensure 2012 is a better year."

Determining the reason for 2011's high toll is difficult, but Mr Claridge said he recognised New Zealand has an ongoing issue with a casual attitude to water safety.

Children featured prominently in the national 2011 statistics. Fourteen  children under 5 drowned,  the highest number since 2002, and up 75 per cent on the five-year average.
 

"2012 is already off to a poor start with 15 drownings so far this year, I'm calling on all New Zealanders to make water safety a priority," Mr Claridge said. "Refresh yourself on the safety basics, and if you, or family members can't swim, start learning now."