Surf Life Saving New Zealand is frustrated basic water safety messages are being ignored.

Labour Weekend marks the start of lifeguards patrolling beaches, and they're gearing up for another busy summer.

Conditions were perfect at Orewa Beach today as young lifeguards were put through their paces. Four-thousand volunteer every summer and have to be brought up to speed.

"We're making sure their fitness is up to scratch, their rescue skills are there," says northern region Surf Life Saving manager Tom Burgess. All our lifeguards are trained in CPR and first aid, so we're refreshing those."

Mr Burgess says the public needs to be brought up to speed too. He's frustrated the same messages are ignored year after year.

"A lot of people know the messages but they don't respond to them because they don't see the hazards," he says. "They don't see the risks and a lot of people just get caught out."

The beach where swimmers get caught out most often is at Piha.

Last year 98 people drowned one of the lowest tolls since records began. But there's one statistic that's really worrying Water Safety New Zealand 80 percent of 10-year-olds can't swim well enough to save themselves. It means parents need to be extra careful when their children are near water.

"It's typically blokes over summer and small children that are going to cause the most issues," says Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Matt Claridge. "For parents, mums, wives, be the nag, be the one planting the message."

Males make up the vast majority of drownings, many of these on boats.

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Lifeguards hit beaches before summer