New Zealand's shocking summer of drownings has been confirmed, with the number of fatalities last year the worst on record in a decade.
Water Safety NZ has released its final report on drownings in 2021, which shows that 90 people died.
New Zealanders love getting out on the water and in the water - but drowning can happen in an instant.
"She sank. And it was the quickest, quietest experience and thankfully a father next to me said 'is she okay' which spurred me into action and we were able to scoop her up and out of the water," Nicola Keen-Biggelaar said.
Her five-year-old daughter was one of the lucky ones, but so many Kiwis aren't.
Last year was the worst year for drowning deaths since 2011 - there were 91 deaths that year. And while numbers did drop off in the years after that, they've climbed again.
Last summer, over the Christmas period in particular, there was a spate of drownings, including two in the Manawatū River in Palmerston North.
Keen-Biggelaar, who is the chief executive of Drowning Prevention Auckland, said they saw more people visiting beaches over the warm summer.
"We saw more people out on boats. We saw more people playing with new toys such as paddle boats and kayaks and unfortunately we saw more people getting into strife," she said.
And it's mainly men getting into trouble - they accounted for 76 of the deaths last year, while 14 women drowned.
Water Safety NZ CEO Daniel Gerrard said men tend to overestimate their ability and fitness and underestimate the risk.
"And we seem to have a cohort of males over 45 that are making decisions that unfortunately are bad decisions."
And the situation may only get worse with climate change.
"We're starting to overlay weather conditions to some of our data. We're already seeing that a 5C increase in water temperature here in Wellington resulted in a 20 percent increase in the number of drownings," Gerrard said.
But he hopes that the statistics last year were a blip and the death toll can keep tracking down.
The message when it comes to water: If you have any doubt, stay out.
