“There were two young women in trouble initially. They were a teenager and a woman in her early 20s.
“The older one, a New Zealand girl at university in Wellington, was able to swim out of the rip and make her way safely to shore.
“But the other younger girl was swept about 200 metres offshore,” Mr Connelly said.
“We received the call about it from the surfcaster, saw what was happening through binoculars and contacted the boats in the competition on our radio.
“One boat that was coming back in, the Sea Wolf, was directed to where the swimmer was in trouble and picked her up.”
She was taken back to the boat ramp by the tavern.
“She was a little bit shocked. We took her up on the tavern veranda, put a blanket round her and to looked after her until her friend arrived soon after,” Mr Connelly said.
“The two young women were on holiday in our beautiful bay and were staying with a family further along the beach.
“The one who was swept out is an exchange student from West Papua.”
Mr Connelly said the surf was not that big, but there were rips operating on the section of the beach where the two young women went swimming.
“The girl who was swept out was lucky she had a bodyboard with her.
“Without a doubt that’s what saved her.
“Without that floatation, the outcome would probably have been very different.”
The two young women came back to the tavern later that day.
“They thanked the two guys who had carried out the rescue.”
