A search is continuing for a missing man caught up in a New Year's swim gone wrong following a spate of drowning deaths.
In a tragic start to 2026 on eastern Sydney beaches, emergency services were called to Maroubra Beach at 4am after reports a person had been swept into the ocean.
Witnesses told police a 25-year-old woman had been hit by a wave that knocked her into a tidal rock pool before further waves swept her into the ocean.
The woman was found at 5am and could not be resuscitated.
At nearby Coogee Beach, surf lifesavers on jet skis searched for a missing swimmer after emergency services were alerted just after 6am on Thursday.
TV news footage showed a fully clothed police officer entering the water to try to save the man, believed to be aged in his 20s. Two other people were rescued.
Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce labelled "courageous" the efforts of the officer and off-duty lifesavers .
The search and rescue mission for the missing swimmer was continuing on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Pearce said the majority of beaches in Sydney and along the broader NSW coastline were closed and pleaded with people to not enter the water.
"Already we have seen tragedy unfold that will ripple across so many families and so many first responders," he said.
"The efforts of lifeguards and the efforts of volunteer lifesavers have dramatically saved so many people in this 72-hour period."
Since Christmas Day, NSW lifesavers have performed 85 rescues.
On the NSW Central Coast, the Westpac rescue helicopter was sent to Avoca Beach to retrieve a man pulled unconscious from the water by two off-duty lifesavers at 6.45pm on New Year's Eve.
"Fortunately ... they were medical practitioners from a nearby hospital, so this gentleman has the best chance of survival," Mr Pearce said.
The 50-year-old man was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition.
Further north on Queensland's Whitsundays, a 35-year-old Irish man was found dead in the water on New Year's Eve at Whitehaven Beach.
He is believed to have drowned, with police to prepare a report for the coroner.
The incidents follow the death of a man in Sydney on New Year's Eve after a dinghy capsized at Palm Beach.
Two men and a 14-year-old boy were in the vessel when it overturned in rough conditions around Barrenjoey Headland about 11.35am.
A man was pulled from the water by surf lifesavers and treated by paramedics, but he died at the scene, and the second man was winched to safety by helicopter.
A large-scale search for the teenager is continuing.
"Yesterday we saw mass rescues up and down the coast involving large groups of children and adults," Mr Pearce said.
Lifeguards rescued two children at Puckey's Beach on New Year's Eve. One required CPR and both were taken to hospital.
At Broulee, a father and three children were rescued by surfers and in Royal National Park, a group of children were rescued by bystanders.
"This spate of rescues and drownings have just caught everyone off-guard," Mr Pearce said.
Over the New Year period, the risk of drowning is three times greater than any other time of the year.
"Yet because of the conditions and the inclement weather, lifeguards and lifesavers - although we had everyone out in force - just did not expect this swathe of drownings and rescues," Mr Pearce said.
