Muriwai Lifeguards clean up at 2009 Surf BP Rescue Awards

Muriwai Lifeguards took out top national honours at the 2009 Surf BP Rescue Awards this week. Peter Griffiths, retiring Managing Director of BP, presented the Muriwai Lifeguard Service the esteemed award at Parliament on Tuesday evening.

Lifeguards Danny Tenheuvel, Christopher Butt, Billie-Lee Haresnape, Dayna King, Sean Joyce and Ben Tapurau, Rick Wells and Ian Boyce along with Lifeguard Amber Prestegard (who was on an exchange programme in Auckland from the USA at the time) rescued a young rock fisherman who had been swept off the rocks at Muriwai Beach in March 2009.

“This rescue involved an extremely high level of skill and teamwork by the Lifeguards concerned. There were many crucial factors in this rescue that ultimately saved the young rock fisher from becoming yet another drowning statistic. The BP Rescue of the Year award recognises the outstanding achievement of the entire patrol team that day. It is a true testament to the skills they displayed which prevented the loss of yet another life on our beaches.” said Geoff Barry Surf Life Saving CEO.

Second place was awarded to Bay of Plenty Lifeguards who performed a mass rescue at Pauanui beach in January 2009 and third place was presented to Northern Region Lifeguards who recovered a rock fisherman’s body and fought to save his life in difficult conditions at Bethells Beach in December 2008.

Surf Lifeguards made over 1,300 rescues last summer with volunteer patrol hours being the highest on record – indicating more people than ever are spending increased time at the beach. Lifeguards jointly performed over 105,000 ‘preventative actions’ throughout New Zealand which played a considerable role in proactively reducing the number of rescues needed and subsequently preventing further tragedies.