If you're not careful around the water, you might meet the grim reaper. Unless you're in New Zealand, where you might instead meet the Swim Reaper. The Swim Reaper is social media campaign designed by Water Safety New Zealand to reduce preventable drownings in young adults.
While he may sound scary, the Swim Reaper isn't a frightening figure. He does what any normal young person would do; he lounges on novelty pool floats, takes Instagram-worthy selfies (oftentimes mimicking Instagram tropes and clichés) and hangs out with friends — all while wearing thick, black robes and carrying a scythe. While you're bound to laugh at the Swim Reaper's exploits, the goal is to make you think.
"The Swim Reaper is a reminder to everyone that, while it's great to enjoy our beautiful swimming spots, making bad choices around water can have very deadly consequences," WSNZ says on its website.
After all, swimming is no fun if you're drowning.
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On average, 105 people drown in New Zealand per year, and in 2016, 81 of those drownings were preventable. WSNZ wanted to focus on the preventable deaths of young males between the ages of 15 and 34, which make up 33 percent of preventable deaths every year.
"We decided to hit them a bit harder in a way they understand and can relate to, hopefully to make them stop and think and look out for each other," says Jonty Mills, chief executive of WSNZ, in a press release on the organization's website.
You can follow the Swim Reaper on Instagram (@iamtheswimreaper) and Snapchat (swimreaper).
