Local heroes recognised at Otago/Southland Awards of Excellence

Over 50 Otago/Southland residents were officially recognised for their hard work and dedication to saving lives on their local beaches on Friday at the 2014 Otago/Southland Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence.

The celebration of surf lifesaving took place at the St Clair Surf Life Saving Club.

One of the night's top awards, Volunteer of the Year, was awarded to Seth McPhee of the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club.

Seth has been a member of the club since 1999 and this year he held the roles of Patrol Captain, Club and Executive Committee member and Power Craft Officer. He instructed the regional Marine VHF Award, Instructors Course and Patrol Captain's courses and was an Event Guard at many of the national events. 

He was also a coordinator and member on the Dunedin Search and Rescue team and a member of the water rescue (helicopter) squad.

Seth was a committee member for the successful Brighton 75th Jubilee where he had a significant role in organising and running the event as well as being a member of the building committee which he had a significant role, contributing to the ideas/plan of the building. 

Surf Life Saving Southern Regional Manager Stu Bryce says it takes a lot of commitment to be a lifeguard and the awards that were presented are proof of that. "Seth has given up countless hours to reach this level of nomination and he truly deserves this recognition," he says.

The night's other top awards included Lifeguard of the Year and Rescue of the Year.

Lifeguard of the Year was awarded to Ossian Woods from St Clair Surf Life Saving Club. Rescue of the Year was awarded to Perry Farrell (Mount Maunganui), Stefhan Brown, Cam Third, Max Corboy, Rowan Leak (St Kilda) James Rolfe (St Clair) and Scott Weatherall (Brighton) for an out of hours rescue where 'right place right time' came into the success. 

Mr Bryce says in the past year, members of Otago/Southland clubs have saved over 28 lives, contributed over 7,000 volunteer hours patrolling the beaches, and have delivered beach safety education to  over 5,000 kids. "These actions are the expression of our values and it's the best of those values that we celebrate with our awards," he says.

Check out all the photos here on the SLSNZ Southern Region Facebook page.

Award recipients:

Top Club of the Year - St Clair
Les Jordan Memorial Trophy (Volunteer of the Year) - Seth McPhee, Brighton
Lifeguard of the Year - Ossian Woods, St Clair
Duke Gillies Memorials Trophy (Coach of the Year) - Monique Francois, St Clair
Sports Person of the Year - Andrew Trembath, St Clair
Sport Team of the Year - Steph & Carla Laughton, St Clair
Instructor of the Year - Tarn Neuman, Warrington
Official of the Year - Dennis Trembath, Brighton
Presidents Trophy - Cam Third, St Kilda
Rescue of the Year - St Clair (18 March)
Regional Life Guard of the Year - Kim Martyn, St Clair
Wilson Distillers Trophy (Top Competition Club Otago Sand Championships) - St Clair 

Lifeguard of the Year was awarded to Ossian Woods from St Clair Surf Life Saving Club

 Some of the recipients of Rescue of the Year 

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Honeybone, Media & Communications Specialist, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.honeybone@surflifesaving.org.nz