A Wellington police officer who swam a gorge river 18 times in the dark to rescue a group of stranded youth has been praised for her potentially life-saving effort. Constable Rochelle Andrews, from Search and Rescue (SAR) Wellington, ferried the party to safety, one by one, across the Hutt River at Kaitoke, Upper Hutt. "Rochelle's actions were exceptional, putting the rescued party's welfare far above her own," said Sergeant Ants Harmer, Wellington District SAR coordinator, in an article published in the Police Ten One magazine. Keep Reading

Six people have been pulled from the water after their waka ama broke into pieces off the Northland coast today. They did everything by the book and perfectly right which means there are families in Northland tonight who are going to be very relieved. Keep Reading

Kauria Te Moana programme to educate children on open water safety and swimming skills.The programme is aimed at young people (ages seven to 12) that are already comfortable swimming a short distance who are keen to give open water swimming a go. It will teach the children essential safety skills for open water and give them the opportunity to participate in the Banana Boat OceanKids event. Keep Reading

Children can learn water safety skills more effectively in natural water environments as opposed to swimming pools, new research suggests. Led by University of Otago Professor Chris Button, researchers found that while children can learn in both pool and open water environments, the retention of water safety skills was most effective for children who had been taught in open waters. Keep Reading

Growing maintenance costs of aging school pools are putting potentially life-saving swimming lessons out of the reach of thousands of Kiwi youth according to an industry expert. Former Olympic and national swimming coach Mark Bone says swimming lessons from an early age are essential to reducing our national drowning statistics. Keep Reading

With school swimming pools continuing to close across the country, it's never been more difficult for a New Zealand child to learn to swim.  Today many families will stand at the school gates and send their little ones off to school, some for the first time. Keep Reading

A quick response by Auckland lifeguards saved the life of a diver who got into trouble off the coast of Omaha Beach. Surf Life Saving Northern Region said the pair had taken all necessary safety precautions, but once the male diver was submerged, their boat began to drift. Keep Reading

Males are four times as likely to die in the water than females, figures show, and the "she’ll be right" attitude has a lot to do with it, says Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Jonty Mills. His comments come as figures for January reveal there were 12 water-related deaths, 10 of which were males. Keep Reading

A five-year-old girl and four other children were among a group of swimmers rescued from an active rip at a Waikato beach that lifeguards, who were preparing to leave for the day, said could have easily resulted in multiple deaths. Keep Reading

Fourteen-year-old Luca Broome came to the aid of an 80-year-old man at Waimarama Beach on Tuesday evening. “I was out on my paddleboard and I saw an elderly man out the back struggling to swim on his back. I watched him for a bit and he was getting nowhere so I went over to him and asked if he was alright and he said he was getting tired so I got him to hang on to my board and I paddled him back in.” Keep Reading

Do not let the beauty of Muriwai Beach fool you. The rugged 60 kilometre-long black-sand beach located on Auckland's wild west coast is one of the deadliest patrolled beaches in New Zealand. It is one of the country's most popular sandy stretches and all year round thousands flock to it, but lifeguards who monitor it during summer say people often underestimate the dangers of its waters. Keep Reading

Police are searching for a swimmer who failed to resurface at a swimming hole in Karekare near Auckland yesterday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the body of a diver was found at a beach east of Whangarei and the body of a 24-year-old Israeli man was discovered in the Whanganui River after he drowned on Sunday. It means around 11 people have drowned so far this year. Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Jonty Mills speaks to Corin Dann. Keep Reading

Rescue Rashie with CPR instructions where they're needed most, at rescuers' fingertips. When a child's life is at risk, it's very easy to panic. Just ask intensive care paramedic Casey Drum. "It's often very emotionally charged when you're dealing with a child who has stopped breathing - it's very easy to over-complicate what's happening because of the gravity of the situation," he told Newshub. Keep Reading

From Labour weekend to 27 Jan 2020, there have been 13 beach drownings, compared to eight in the same period last summer – a 63 per cent increase. There are still two-and-a-half months left until the end of the official swimming season. Surf Life Saving New Zealand chief executive Paul Dalton attributed the large increase in beach drownings to “a combination of bad luck and poor weather”. Keep Reading

People over 65 years old are the most likely age group to drown in New Zealand, a water safety expert has revealed. Water Safety NZ CEO Jonty Mills told The AM Show that due to people living longer and wanting to jump back into the water, the drowning statistics for this age group have risen. "The last three years, interestingly, it's the over-65s that have been the highest category in drowning statistics." Keep Reading

Three men were in the water for hours after their boat overturned at the Manukau Heads. Keep Reading

Ephraim Gudjeon went from cracked vertebra to cracking professional bodybuilding's ranks. Keep Reading

Anna Valk's family friend once lost their 7-year-old son in a drowning accident, something she still thinks about. "Losing one of my children is one of the worst things that could happen, and knowing that I could stop it happening... I could never forgive myself," she said. Keep Reading

Valeliano Mita, 40, died on Saturday after jumping into Wellington Harbour to rescue his son, while his other children looked on. Keep Reading

Mental health and wellbeing is the focus of a youth hīkoi to the South Island for more than 100 Kahungunu rangatahi. Keep Reading

Water Safety New Zealand is urging people planning to take to the water to remember the message 'If in doubt, don't... Keep Reading

We are at the time of the year when parents and caregivers are starting to return to work, however our children are still enjoying the summer, typically at the local swimming pool. Keep Reading

The 1-year-old boy who died in hospital on Christmas Eve was a "treasured" younger brother to his four sisters. Keep Reading

A scuba diver swept 3km out to sea has described swallowing so much water he vomited several times, but says he never gave up hope of being rescued. Keep Reading

A dive in rough seas turned to tragedy for William Marupo's family. Keep Reading