With an increase in numbers expected at beaches around Hawke's Bay due to Splash Planet's closure this summer, the Waimārama Surf Life Saving Club is calling for people to exercise caution this New Year's weekend. 

It comes after 16-year-old lifeguard Lexxie Cunningham rushed to the aid of an 11-year-old girl who came into distress while swimming outside of the flags on Christmas day. On boxing day, and with about 1000 people on the beach, a surfboard fin sliced someone's leg, while a man had their calf cut up by a spinning boat propeller. 

"We are a very very busy club with hundreds of people on the beach and in the water at any one time so we are concerned about this coming weekend in Hawke's Bay with Splash Planet being closed and people looking for other places to go," Director of Education Jason Broome says. 

He says the incident on Christmas Day shows the importance of knowing one's limit, swimming between the flags and keeping a close eye on children. 

The rescue was the first in Lexie's three Year's as a lifeguard and still "doesn't seem real". But she believes it could have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for the club spotting the girl, and calling "rescue, rescue, rescue" as quickly as they did to alert those close to the water. 

"I managed to see one of the younger boys standing on the side of the water screaming and yelling to alert us to someone in the water and so I just boosted into the water," she told Hawke's Bay App.

"I could see this little girl just going underwater and when I got there she was under the water and I managed to get to her and bring her up above the water and then another lifeguard came with a tube and put that around her and took her back in."

The young girl then vomited on the side of the beach and was monitored for an hour before being given the okay to leave.

"We train all the time for the worst possible situation that could happen so I didn't really think about it twice in this situation, it just kind of happened, adrenalin kicked in and everything else just kind of came second.

"And then afterwards all my nerves kicked in and reality kicked in and I realised that could have been a lot worse and I just saved an 11-year-old girl's life so she can have another Christmas because of what I did and because I was in the right situation at the right time." 

Director of Lifeguarding John Cunningham says it could have been a lot worse especially on Christmas day. "We were really lucky to have those guys on patrol." 

He says swimming in between the flags "is the simplest of things that can prevent so many problems". 

"People know about the flags and some of them are choosing not to do it so that's the frustrating thing. 

"It's for their safety so people can enjoy our beautiful beaches but for some reason, some people don't want to go in between the flags where it's safe and in fact, we haven't had any drownings in the flags - all problems occur outside of the flags and that speaks for itself." 

While they are trained to rescue people, Cunnigham says they have professionals in place to help their lifeguards unpack things after significant events. 

Lifeguard Patrol Captain James Laver says the events on Boxing Day occurred within the space of two hours and put a lot of pressure on their resources. 

"Obviously it stretches your resource because you can't take all your lifeguards off the flags and so we were very fortunate to have enough lifeguards so we managed to keep a full contingent at the flags the whole time through the day despite rips popping up and bits and pieces all over the place to try and keep on top of things." 

While he says the surfboard incident was "purely bad luck", he believes people need to "settle down, not rush, and be patient". 

"It was as a result of people rushing, not being patient and not just waiting for the area to be cleared before so he ended up turning the boat in a very small space which is just very dangerous at the end of the day."

The man was taken via helicopter to hospital. Laver says there have been too many near misses with a lot of boats coming and going at the same time, and people not waiting their turn. 

Laver says they will be "vigilant" and on top of their game, as they always are, this weekend, but need people to help themselves.

"We're very much aware that New Year's is going to be an interesting time with a lot of people here so the main message is for people to be patient, calm, swim within their limitations, and watch their children". 

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