An off-duty police officer who drowned at a beach on the New South Wales south coast had swum out to rescue his own son from a “substantial” rip, police say.
The man, who has not been named, had entered the water at a beach south of Narooma after his 14-year-old son was caught in a rip on Sunday.
The 45-year-old police officer, who was attached to the north-west metropolitan region, was off duty at the time and was holidaying with family near the popular NSW coastal town.
He entered a swell of about 0.5-1 metres, which contained “a rather substantial rip”, Acting Insp Paul Hoyer said on Monday.
“From what I understand he was able to push his son out of the rip, he was then taken further out to sea in the rip,” Hoyer said.
“This is a tragedy that will cut through to his family, friends, and workmates. It’s devastating at this time of year, and obviously with the [recent] two [police] deaths in Queensland … it just brings home how dangerous policing is.”
Police will prepare a brief for the NSW coroner.
The beach at which the family was swimming was unpatrolled, Hoyer said. “As a father, a parent and as a police officer, he was obviously doing what he should be doing.”
Hoyer urged holidaymakers to swim between the flags at patrolled beaches.
Surf lifesavers had been called to the scene about 1.30pm on New Year’s Day. When they arrived onlookers told them the man went into the ocean to rescue a boy, but after saving the teen he had disappeared under water, Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) said.
A helicopter sent from Moruya spotted the man who was pulled unconscious from the rip by lifesavers.
SLSNSW’s chief executive, Steven Pearce, said it was a “really tragic incident”.
“We have numerous cases each year … where someone goes into the rescue and they, in turn, become the victim and the person they went to rescue successfully escapes the rip they were caught in,” Pearce said.
On Monday, another man died after he was pulled from a surf beach south of Byron Bay in NSW.
Emergency services were called to New Brighton Beach about 1pm following reports a 28-year-old man had collapsed after returning to shore and a 27-year-old man was unresponsive after being pulled from the water by surf life savers and an off-duty nurse.
The nurse and life savers performed CPR until paramedics arrived but the 27-year-old could not be revived, NSW police said.
The 28-year-old was taken to Tweed hospital in a stable condition.
Meanwhile, a body was found in a lake in Victoria’s alpine region after a man went missing while swimming with friends on Sunday.
Police believe the body is that of the 34-year-old swimmer who appeared to run into difficulty before disappearing at Lake Eildon, north-east of Melbourne, about 4.30pm. Friends raised the alarm after the man failed to resurface.
Police and other emergency services scoured the lake and foreshore into the evening before suspending their search overnight. The search resumed on Monday after police divers were called in. The body was found later in the morning.
With warm temperatures driving thousands of people to the state’s beaches this summer, NSW lifesavers have already conducted more than 1,000 rescues since Christmas, a new record.
“We’ve never ever seen this before,” Pearce said.
“So the primary message today, particularly because it’s such a bumper day for the beach is: we’re urging people to go to a patrolled location … that’s anywhere with a red and yellow flag flying and where our lifesavers, and our lifeguards, are on duty.”
There have been at least 23 drownings across the country since the start of summer, prompting a warning from lifeguards for Australians to stay safe. Sixteen people drowned over the last new year’s long weekend.
“This new year’s long weekend make the right call, look after your mates, and don’t swim, fish or boat if you’ve had a few drinks,” said Royal Life Saving Australia’s chief executive, Justin Scarr.
Parents should always keep watch of children around water and designate a supervisor to keep them safe.
The national life saving group’s warning was mainly targeted at people heading towards inland waterways, where more than half of this summer’s drowning deaths have occurred.
