28 November 2011
Media Release
For immediate release

Water Safety Champions for 2011 Celebrated

On Thursday 24th November, at a Gala Dinner held at Te Papa in Wellington, the Sealord New Zealand Water Safety Awards for 2011 were presented. The awards and the dinner ceremony were one of the highlights of Water Our Fatal Attraction: The New Zealand Water Safety Conference 2011.

Matt Claridge, CEO, Water Safety New Zealand, said it is encouraging to receive so many quality nominations in 2011: “The water safety sector has embraced these Awards and again this year the judges were challenged with an extremely hard task of choosing winners from a large group of excellent candidates across all categories. We are truly fortunate to have such dedicated and talented people working in our sector.”

Winners of each category Award, who receive $2,500 towards professional development in the field of water safety, were presented with Sealord New Zealand Water Safety Award 2011 Trophies by Sealord General Manager, New Zealand Business Unit, David Welsh.

“Sealord are delighted to be associated with the Water Safety Awards for 2011.
It is important to recognise and share successful initiatives - in the water safety sector this success is measured in lives,” he said.

Congratulations to all winners of the Sealord New Zealand Water Safety Awards for 2011:

Education Category Winner
Swim Safe Southland - Learn to Swim Programme

Prevention Category Winner 2011
Maritime New Zealand – Folau Malu (Safer Journeys) Campaign

Awareness Category Winner 2011
Christchurch City Council Recreation and Sports Unit, Swim Education Team, SwimSmart Programme.

Outstanding Contribution Winner 2011
Paul Caffyn, Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers

Summary information on the Water Safety Awards and category winners is provided in the attached documents.

Ends…

WATER SAFETY NEW ZEALAND
Formed in 1949, WSNZ is the national organisation responsible for water safety education in New Zealand.

WSNZ targets drowning prevention and water safety in communities through education. WSNZ oversees proven, proactive and preventative education interventions. In addition, WSNZ prioritizes leadership, collaboration and enabling the water safety sector with resourcing, research, planning and communication.

WSNZ is the lead agency for the Learn to Swim and Survive sector in New Zealand. The Sealord Swim For Life initiative is WSNZ’s major project. WSNZ seeks to address a dramatic decline in swimming ability of our youth. The Sealord Swim For Life initiative is an overarching, national project established to:

• Provide all children with access to the water;
• Facilitate the delivery of quality swim and survive programmes in primary schools;
• Provide the foundations for the development of a culture that produces generations of New Zealand families that are water safe.

Our Way Of Life: National Water Safety Communications Campaign

TVNZ and New Zealand Post have partnered with WSNZ to deliver a water safety communications campaign across New Zealand.

‘Our Way of Life’ is the campaign theme.

Our Way of Life communicates that New Zealanders, by virtue of who we are and where we live, are predisposed to enjoying aquatic based activities and environments. The objective of the campaign is to encourage participation in all things aquatic, the associated benefits of this, but with the underlying message that all aquatic activity requires that safety is the first priority.

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