Mount Maunganui and Whangamata have taken out this year's coveted awards at the Zespri Bay of Plenty/Coromandel Awards of Excellence last night.

Both clubs were awarded the Zespri Club of the Year title for their respective regions at the glitzy awards evening held at Trinity Warf Tauranga.

Coromandel Lifeguard of the Year Christiaan Maarhuis from Waihi Beach Suf Life Saving Club. Photo: Tiana Gibbons-Campbell.

As well as the award, the winning clubs also received a $5000 cheque from Zespri, which the company gives so the clubs can spend it on lifesaving equipment.

Zespri general manager grower and external relations Dave Courtney says the company were proud to support an organisation like Surf Life Saving.

"Supporting this award and providing free training for local lifeguards is our way of recognising the people who do so much for our communities, keeping our beaches safe for everyone to enjoy," he says.

Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club winners of the Bay of Plenty club of the year award.

In 2014, a new awards format was introduced to reflect the growth in lifesaving in both the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty areas.

Whangamata Surf Life Saving Club winners of the Coromandel club of the year award.

The lifesaving awards are now split between the two respective areas which allows for the recognition of more volunteers.

As well as club of the year, some of the top awards included Pacific Medicare Lifeguard of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and Rescue of the Year.

Bay of Plenty Lifeguard of the Year was awarded to Shaun Smith from Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club.

The purpose of this award is to recognise a member who had made an outstanding contribution to the delivery and development of drowning prevention services for SLSNZ. It is aimed at active surf lifeguards undertaking lifeguarding duties.

Club and member development manager for the Eastern Region Chaz Gibbons-Campbell says Shaun is a great lifeguard with years of experience under his belt.

He is heavily involved with numerous aspects of surf lifesaving within the club and region. He acted as a patrol captain and completed more than 100 hours on patrol during the season.

'As head of the Papamoa Callout Squad, he has also been involved in five search and rescue operations.

'Shaun is highly regarded, leads by example and is always encouraging the development and involvement of his fellow Surf Lifeguards, both young and old,” Chaz says.

Coromandel Lifeguard of the Year was awarded to Christiaan Maarhuis from Trust Waikato Waihi Beach Surf Life Saving Club for the second year in a row.

Christiaan volunteered more than 50 hours on patrol during the season plus another 83 hours of event lifeguarding on top of his roles of instructor and examiner.

He was a head instructor at the Intermediate Lifeguard School, has instructed many lifeguards thought the season and conducted IRB crew and driver training as well as board rescue training.

Chaz says Christiaan always takes on a great deal of work and really leads by example.

'His commitment and dedication to his club, region and surf lifesaving generally is outstanding, especially considering he works full time and has a young family.”

Volunteer of the Year for the Bay of Plenty was awarded to Donal Boyle from Omanu Beach Surf Life Saving Club and to Susan Stewart from Trust Waikato Waihi Beach Surf Life Saving Club in the Coromandel.

The purpose of this award is to recognise an outstanding member who has made a significant volunteer contribution to enhancing surf lifesaving within their local area during the season.

Chaz says it takes a lot of commitment to reach this level of nomination and both Donal and Susan are deserving of the recognition.

'Shaun, Christiaan, Donal and Susan will go on to be finalists for the national Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence which will be held in Auckland in September.”

He says there were some fantastic rescues throughout the season and Rescue of the Year award was close but was taken out by Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty and Tairua in the Coromandel.

Whakatane's rescue took place on December 7, 2015 and involved new lifeguard Keld Hunia demonstrated his first aid skills when he was umpiring a local game of touch and one of players collapsed after colliding with another.

Tairua's winning rescue took place on December 28, 2015 and involved a patient collapsing as they were exiting the water and lifeguards had to conduct CPR.

There was also a host of other lifesaving, sport and service awards presented on the night including the Harrison Mundy Memorial Scholarship Award (established last year) which was presented to the Eastern Region's top rookie, Ella Higgins from Waihi Beach.

She participated in her club's rookie programme throughout the season, attended the Eastern Region Rookie Challenge and completed patrols with lifeguards at the club.

Chaz says Ella is an enthusiastic rookie and it's great to be able to recognise the region's up and coming lifeguards with this award.

AWARD WINNERS

Bay of Plenty lifesaving awards

Pacific Medicare Lifeguard of the Year: Shaun Smith, Papamoa

Patrol Captain of the Year: Shaun Smith, Papamoa

Instructor of the Year: Garry King, Mount Maunganui

Examiner of the Year: Danielle Shepherd, Mount Maunganui

Volunteer of the Year: Donal Boyle, Omanu Beach

Rescue of the Year: Whakatane SLSC, 7th December 2015

Pacific Medicare Patrol Club of the Year: Maketu

Zespri Club of the Year: Mount Maunganui

Coromandel lifesaving awards

Pacific Medicare Lifeguard of the Year: Christiaan Maarhuis, Waihi Beach

Patrol Captain of the Year: Daniel Gordon, Pauanui

Instructor of the Year: Lucy Scown, Waihi Beach

Examiner of the Year: Spencer Raymond, Pauanui

Volunteer of the Year: Susan Stewart, Waihi Beach

Rescue of the Year: Tairua SLSC, 28th December 2015

Pacific Medicare Patrol Club of the Year: Tairua

Zespri Club of the Year: Whangamata

Regional awards

Eastern Region Rookie Lifeguard of the Year: Ella Higgins, Waihi Beach

Sport awards

Emerging Coach of the Year: Jason Watts, Papamoa

Coach of the Year: Matt Cairns, Papamoa

McLeod Cranes Surf Official of the Year: Ross Merrett, Papamoa

Sports Team of the Year: Whangamata Barrys U23 Men's Boat Crew (Brandon Dromgool, Josh Kerridge, Sam Stockley, Lyndon Vickers, Andrew Jujunovich)

U14 Female Sportsperson of the Year: Isabella Akroyd, Mount Maunganui

U14 Male Sportsperson of the Year Daniel Shanahan, Mount Maunganui

U16 Female Sportsperson of the Year: Tessa Bradley, Mount Maunganui

U16 Male Sportsperson of the Year: Lochlainn O'Connor, Mount Maunganui

U19 Female Sportsperson of the Year: Libby Bradley, Mount Maunganui

U19 Male Sportsperson of the Year: Kane Sefton, Mount Maunganui

Open Female Sportsperson of the Year: Jessica Miller, Mount Maunganui

Open Male Sportsperson of the Year: Adam Simpson, Mount Maunganui

Masters Female Sportsperson of the Year: Jol McGarvey, Omanu Beach

Masters Male Sportsperson of the Year: Ian Glover, Omanu Beach

Individual International Sports Performance: Olivia Eaton, Mount Maunganui

Team International Sports Performance: Mount Maunganui U19 Men's Board Rescue Team (Hamish Miller & Kane Sefton)

Eastern Region Service Awards

Christopher Emmett, Omanu Beach

Donal Boyle, Omanu Beach

Jason Carswell, Omanu Beach

Stephen Williams, Pukehina

Kevin Barugh, Pukehina

Eastern Region Distinguished Service Awards

Danielle Shepherd, Mount Maunganui

Simon Oldham, Omanu Beach

Dennis Mundy, Omanu Beach