Coroner Heather McKenzie’s findings said Jamie Civil, 35, who died on March 26, 2022, was ‘‘highly respected among the surfing community more widely too, and his loss has been very widely and deeply felt’’.
It took three surfers to retrieve Mr Civil and bring him to shore when he got caught up in the waves that day.
Earlier that day, Mr Civil took part in a surfing event at Aramoana Beach, after which he was free surfing near the north end of the beach.
By mid-afternoon he was surfing with friend William van der Beek near Bear Rock.
Mr van der Beek returned to the judging tent but was soon called out to look in the water after a board was seen with no-one near it.
He swam to the board and pulled the leg rope and Mr Civil’s feet surfaced.
Mr Civil was unresponsive.
At one point a wave came over them and Mr van der Beek lost Mr Civil, but soon retrieved him again.
He then enlisted the help of two other surfers to bring Mr Civil to shore, which took a long time due to the severity of the waves.
A GP and others helped with CPR.
Emergency services attended, including the rescue helicopter, but Mr Civil could not be revived and died at the scene.
Ms McKenzie noted that Mr van der Beek described the waves as “probably the biggest they could be before they became unsurfable’’.
The waves had quite a lot of power as the tide was going out so they were breaking shallower, Mr van der Beek said.
A pathologist’s assessment found ‘‘no contributory toxicology’’ and only traces of caffeine in Mr Civil’s system, and police wrapped up their inquiry finding no suspicious circumstances towards his death.
Ms McKenzie said a sudden death panel study did not reveal a genetic cause such as a heart condition, though this study type did not rule out an inherited cause.
‘‘Mr Civil had been surfing his whole life. He was one of the best surfers in Dunedin and a top surfer in New Zealand.
‘‘I cannot make a finding about why and how Mr Civil, an extremely talented and experienced surfer, came off his board on the available evidence before me.’’
Mr Civil died from drowning, she said.
‘‘Again, I extend my condolences to Mr Civil’s family and to the surfing community for their loss.’’
