Geelong footballer Patrick Dangerfield has described the moment "instinct kicked in" and he rescued an 11-year-old girl from a rip on Victoria's Surf Coast.
The star Cats player was on the beach playing with his children at Moggs Creek, near Aireys Inlet, about midday on Sunday when he said a woman pointed out there were people struggling in the water.
Dangerfield had a surfboard with him which he used to paddle out to a girl and two women in trouble.
"They were caught in a rip, which is something that happens along that coast quite often," he said.
"I basically just went out there and tried to help them where I could," he said.
He described the weather and the waves as "pretty hairy".
He said he reached the girl, aged 11, and two women and started slowly towing them back to shore, before surf lifesavers arrived with jet skis and took over the rescue.
"It was about calming them down as quickly as possible and waiting for the surf lifesavers to get there and to pull them in and [then] the ambos, who do an incredible job," he said.
The 11-year-old girl was checked over by paramedics but had no injuries.
Dangerfield said growing up on the Surf Coast meant he had experienced similar situations in the past.
"If you live along the beach long enough then you're going to experience those different things throughout the course of your life and there's going to be times when you're called up to get out there quickly and then the lifesavers will arrive if they're close by," he said.
"If you see someone, you've got a responsibility — if you can, if you're able — to help them out."
Dangerfield said the swimmers were holidaying on the coast, and he popped in to visit them late on Sunday afternoon to check they were alright.
He also said Sunday was his first day out of isolation after having COVID-19.
