Culture change needed to prevent drownings

Source: Auckland Freediving Club

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The Auckland Freediving Club is staging a safety awareness day this Sunday amidst concerns too many people are drowning unnecessarily.

The spate of summer drownings, including those of two free divers at Great Barrier Island last month, has Auckland Freediving spokesperson Rob Harrison appealing to Aucklanders to take part in the April 3 event at Lake Pupuke.

"There needs to be an immediate and widespread culture in the diving fraternity where divers need to be more mindful of safety and of ‘coming home from a dive’," says Mr Harrison.

"Anything we can do to help better equip people when around water could be the difference between survival - or saving a life," Mr Harrison. "We are losing too many people to drowning in New Zealand and it doesn’t have to be this way."

Mr Harrison says almost 50 people are registered for the safety awareness day but he wants to see 100 people in the water.

"Anyone is welcome to come along to the 9am and 12pm presentations but the following ‘in water’ sessions will require that people already know how to snorkel and swim with fins. To get the most from the practical, people should also be competent at equalising and will need to bring a mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit and a weight belt with up to 3KG of weight.

"Our focus will be on teaching free divers core skills that will make them safer and also provide them the skills to make their buddies safer. And that’s a really important message that we all need to be looking out for other people in the water.

"We believe that covering essential safety elements of freediving will make people safer divers and this will specifically aide reducing the number of spearfishing and freediving fatalities we have in New Zealand - a number that is far too high."

The Auckland Freediving Club will instruct people on how much weight to use, how to breathe up safely before a dive, recovery breathing after a dive, diving with a buddy and how to rescue someone should they black-out.

Mr Harrison says the club is one of the largest in Australasia and maintains well defined safety processes and practices that members employ.

"We also have 6 AIDA and PADI qualified freediving instructors who deliver freediving courses and a high number of very competent free divers, many of whom are also spear fishers too."

Presentations are at the North Shore Canoe Clubrooms, 1 Northcote Rd, Lake Pupuke, North Shore - Sunday, April 3.

For more information: http://www.aucklandfreediving.co.nz/safety-awareness-day

ENDS

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