Josh Baker, 14, won the Rookie Lifeguard of the Year award at the 2017 Northern Region Surf Lifesaving awards. The MAGS student represents the Waipu Cove Surf Lifesaving Club.
This means he is the best Rookie Lifeguard from Raglan in the south to the Far North.
One of the reasons Josh was nominated was that on a non-patrol day, while kneeboard training, he saw a young boy on a boogie board being taken out by a strong tide. He alerted the Club President, paddled out, and assisted the boy back to shore, under the watchful eye of the President.
During the club prizegiving, he helped life guards to get a patient, who had been gashed in the face by a board fin, off the beach and into the first aid room.
He also competed and was a finalist in the Northern Region Twilight series, Ruakaka and Northern Region Champs, and a semi-finalist at the Oceans event.