Helicopter rescue: Woman swept away while swimming in Kawarau River near Queenstown airlifted from rocks

The rescued woman and her friends speak to paramedics. Photo / Guy Williams

A helicopter has winched a woman from rocks at the Kawarau River, near Queenstown, after she was swept several hundred metres downstream while swimming with friends.

A police spokeswoman said they were notified after a report of a woman in difficulty in the water, near Gibbston, about 1.30pm.

The woman is one of a group of three friends from Queenstown who came to the riverside spot at the end of Rafters Rd, a Department of Conservation reserve, for a picnic and a swim about 11am.

A friend of the woman's said they were swimming in a spot where the current took them round in a circle.

Somehow she got out of the current and was swept away, he said.

Police said a search-and-rescue operation was launched and a rescue helicopter was dispatched.

The part of the Kawarau River where the woman was swimming has a strong current and eddies that can be dangerous, police say. Photo / Guy Williams

"The woman was located on the riverbank a short time later and was airlifted to safety."

She was not injured, the spokeswoman said.

Sergeant Matt Hargreaves said the woman got herself out of the water onto some rocks after being swept several hundred metres downstream.

The rescue helicopter winched her from the rocks and reunited her with her friends at about 2.45pm, Hargreaves said.

He said he would not recommend the area for swimming due to the strong current and eddies.

A St John ambulance was at the scene but the woman did not require treatment.