Surf Life Saving Northern Region (SLSNR) has commemorated a year of challenges and successes at the annual 2023-24 Toyota Financial Services Awards of Excellence at Auckland War Memorial Museum on Saturday 17 August.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region General Manager Zac Franich says the night was a much-awaited opportunity to showcase the tremendous work of clubs and individuals, celebrate the achievements of the year, and honour the exceptional contributions of the surf lifesaving community.

"We are incredibly proud of all the awardees this year and the fantastic achievements of our surf lifesaving community. They have shown us courage, skill, and dedication to perform at their absolute best,” he says.

The year marked the first uninterrupted surf lifesaving sport season since 2019, with the 3,100 participants at Northern Region events putting participation firmly in the realm of pre-Covid numbers.

“It has been satisfying for many of us in the region to deliver this following many years navigating the uncertainty of Covid, and the extreme weather events of the 2022-2023 season. With 15 of our 18 Northern Region clubs participating in events, it has been a strong competition season, making victory in the sporting awards even sweeter,” says Zac Franich.

On the surf lifesaving front, Franich says that the awards recognise a tremendous effort to keep the public safe, with Northern Region surf lifeguards putting in more than 58,000 volunteer hours, equating to almost 34 hours average for each active member – nearly a full working week for some.

“These individuals also partake in after-hours rescues, coaching, competing, running the clubs and more. The night is a great opportunity to let them all know how grateful we are,” he says.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region is the largest of the Surf Life Saving regions in New Zealand, covering Auckland to the Far North, and as far south as Raglan. This season, 18 clubs within the region patrolled across 25 beach locations.

Across the season, Northern Region lifeguards saved a total of 283 lives with an additional 486 assisted to safety. 22,242 preventative actions were taken, allowing 173,236 beachgoers to return safely home. Guards attended to 97 major first-aids and 705 minor first-aids, with 91 searches.

Franich paid special tribute to the recipients of Service, Distinguished Service Awards and Life Memberships awards.

“We wouldn’t be a successful organisation without the long-standing commitment of these individuals, who have put in many years of dedicated service to keep our coastlines safe.”

Major Awards

The ultimate award – Club of the Year – was won by Waipū Cove Surf Life Saving Club. This accolade is given to the best performing club across a range of metrics including member training and development, lifeguard competency and operational performance, junior surf participation, event attendance, and delivery on governance objectives.

Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol won Rescue of the Year for a rescue that occurred on New Year’s Eve in 2023. It saw surf lifeguards Kael Mead, Aurion Mead, Dean Maddaford, Andrew Carr, Leif Neilson, Natalie Neilson, Luci Marra, and Jackson Hamilton involved in the mass rescue of a group of six young men who had been carried out to sea in a rip. The rescue was executed in “text-book fashion” in challenging surf by the Search and Rescue squad members, assisted by paid lifeguard guards. The swift, well-coordinated response resulted in saving two young men’s lives who were in very serious trouble and both the rescue and the resuscitation efforts on the third patient received unanimous accolades.

Lifeguard of the Year was won by Kyran Gillespie of Surf Life Saving Baylys Beach, who demonstrated an enormous commitment to both his club and to surf lifesaving. Kyran wears many hats and is deeply involved with Baylys Beach, holding positions as Club Captain, Search & Rescue Coordinator, and even a patrol captain. He leads the club’s lifeguard and IRB trainings, and contributes to building the capability of almost every aspect of the club’s operations, thinking outside the box and supporting those around him with his wealth of knowledge.

Search and Rescue Squad of the Year went to Surf Lifesaving Kariaotahi’s Search and Rescue Squad, which responded to 12 call-outs over the season. They were recognised for their dedication to continuous improvement of their operations, both on land and in the water, and their resilience in shifting to temporary containers while the Kariaotahi clubrooms was rebuilt.

In the sporting realm, the Supreme Sports Award went to Fergus Eadie of Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club. The Black Fin, who will soon be making his way to Australia’s Gold Coast for the Lifesaving World Championships (LWCs), absolutely dominated in domestic and regional pool competitions during the season, and drew attention to himself as a fantastic role model – both as a competitor and as a coach. Fergus was also named Open Sportsman of the Year.

Meanwhile Open Sportswoman of the Year went to fellow Black Fin Rae Kwan of Ōrewa Surf Life Saving Club, who demonstrated excellence across a number of surf sport disciplines – including the run–swim–run and pool swimming, including an impressive result at the Battle of the Tasman in 2023.

Sports Team of the Year went to Abi Chapman & Taylor Edwards of Sunset Beach Lifeguard Service, who dominated the IRB racing in New Zealand, and have trained through the season to be named as Black Props New Zealand Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) team that will compete at the LWCs.