Rip grabs four friends, three saved, one drowns

Swimmers at Omaha say the rip was ferocious. Picture / Dean purcell

A man drowned at Omaha Beach yesterday after members of the public had saved the lives of three other swimmers.

The four men were swimming at the unpatrolled beach near Warkworth just before 4pm when they got into difficulty in waist-deep water.

The members of the public, including an off-duty lifeguard, helped three of the men to shore.

The three then raced to a nearby surf lifesaving tower where they found a caretaker who called police.

Surf lifesaving spokesman Brendan Evans said three off-duty lifeguards launched an inflatable rescue boat and the Westpac helicopter searched for the man from the air.

When the body, dressed in green togs and a lycra T-shirt, was spotted, the helicopter lowered a lifeguard into the water to stay with it until it was recovered.

The victim was aged 59. His wife is understood to have visited the beach with police last night before making a formal identification.

It is not known how many members of the public were involved in the rescue, but at least one was understood to have been an off-duty lifeguard from Red Beach.

"It's fantastic that they went out there and saved some lives," said Mr Evans. "They have averted what could have been a tragedy of another three drownings."

Mr Evans said there was metre-high surf at the beach yesterday which would have created a strong rip.

The men, like other beachgoers, may have found themselves caught in that rip.

"It was a hell of a rip," said swimmer Tom Ryan, who received grazes on his knees after being caught in it.

"One minute I was there and the next minute I was on the rocks."

Mr Ryan said he was sitting on the beach with his family later in the day when he saw the Westpac helicopter go overhead.

It was only when he went down to the boat ramp and saw a woman being comforted by a group of people that he realised something was wrong.

At the ramp Mr Ryan saw people walking around with long faces and it was all very quiet.

"Everybody realised someone had died. No one brought in or launched their boats, as a sign of respect," he said.

Northern Surf Lifesaving chief executive Steve Johns said the drowning was the second on an unpatrolled beach this week.

On Monday, Kafoa-Mo-Talau Ngauamo died at Green Bay while trying to rescue his 10-year-old son from the Manukau Harbour mudflats. A member of the public dragged the boy to safety.

Mr Johns said this was the first week Omaha Beach had not been patrolled by lifeguards during the working week. A lack of funding meant the weekday service finished last Friday and patrolling was now restricted to weekends.

Mr Johns said it would cost an extra $150,000 to $200,000 to run full-time patrols on the 12 beaches within the northern region during summer.

Thirteen people drowned in January.