Swim between the flags

It sounds like an old cliché – but ‘between the flags’ is the safest place to be. This message comes from Geoff Barry CEO Surf Life Saving New Zealand as statistics show thirteen drownings in the fifteen days of 2009.

New Zealand’s coastline boasts literally thousands of beaches which are not able to be patrolled - Surf Lifeguards patrol 80 of our country’s most popular beaches but do not have the capacity or capability to be at every beach and be able to respond to every situation.

“If someone decides to take a risk and swim at an unpatrolled beach, they should be aware of the potential dangers and the situation they are putting themselves in” says Barry.

“Many people are just not aware of the conditions, tidal changes, rips and currents. The risks increase when there is an outgoing tide because the water movement increases the chance being dragged out to sea. Even experienced swimmers can get caught out – the power of moving water is so often underestimated. People should not just assume that their ability to swim competently in a pool will increase their ability to survive in the sea.” says Barry.

In an ideal world everyone would swim between the flags. But the reality is people choose to swim at unpatrolled beaches. If they choose to swim unsupervised in the sea – then they are not only putting themselves at risk – but they’re also putting others who might try to help them at risk too.

“So far this season Surf Lifeguards have performed 677 rescues. That’s 677 lives that could have been lost on our beaches but weren’t - because they were swimming at patrolled beaches.” says Barry.