An off duty surf lifesaver rescued four people caught in a rip at Sandon Point Beach after 6pm on New Year’s Day.
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Surf Lifesaving Illawarra Club duty officer Anthony Turner was sitting on the beach with his children when he noticed a Pakistani man in distress.
Mr Turner said the man had been dragged about 140 metres out to sea.
He radioed the rescue into headquarters before borrowing a boggie board and swam to the man.
With the help of another swimmer and a second boggie board the man was able to be kept afloat.
Shortly after, surf lifesavers arrived on a support operation jetski and an inflatable rescue boat.
“The man had nothing left in him,” Mr Turner said.
“He had swallowed a lot of water and coughed it up.
“Paramedics attended but were not required.”
A short time after, three other people entered the water and had to be rescued from the same rip by Mr Turner and Sandon Point lifesaver Alex Lockhart.
Mr Turner said the rescues should act as a reminder to other people not to swim when beaches are closed and unpatrolled.
“Once a beach is closed people should not enter the water,” he said.
“If swimmers do get in trouble it can take longer for surf lifesavers to respond.
“These rescues could have been fatalities and should be a reminder of the extreme dangers of swimming at unpatrolled beaches.”
Mr Turner said the first man’s family were grateful to him and the lifesavers.
About 30 minutes before the rescue, Mr Turner’s colleagues were relocating an unidentified three metre shark offshore Fairy Meadow Beach.
The surf lifesavers were notified of the shark after a kayaker was nudged whilst heading towards North Wollongong Beach.
That was the second shark sighting on Tuesday. A white pointer caused Wollongong City Beach to close around 12pm.
