A woman has drowned during an early morning swim south of Noosa this morning, with lifesavers fearing she may have been caught in a strong rip in the area at the time.
Emergency services were called to Marcus Beach off Callitris Crescent and Tristania Drive just after 6.20am.
Surf Life Saving Regional Operations Manager Aaron Purchase said the woman was found floating in the water.
"They pulled her ashore and called triple 0."
Mr Purchase said lifeguards who were about to start duty for the day also responded quickly.
Lifeguards and paramedics performed CPR but the woman died at the scene.
"We deployed some of our emergency response guys that were due to start work. They've all assisted the ambulance CPR attempts," he said
"But unfortunately, they weren't successful."
Strong rip in the area
He said lifesavers would debrief about the incident later today but it is believed the woman may have got caught in a rip.
"Conditions aren't too bad today," he said
"But at this stage, we're still a bit uncertain about the exact details of what she was doing and what's caused her to get into difficulty."
He is encouraging residents to only swim between the red and yellow flags, particularly tomorrow for Australia Day which is one of their busiest days of the year.
"So it's really important that everyone does the right thing and makes the job of the lifeguards and lifesavers on duty as easy as possible.
"The number one way you can do that is swim between those red yellow flags where it is the safest spot on the beach to swim."
