WORKERS at a surf lifesaving competition rescued a swimmer in need who was struggling to keep their head above water.
Branksome Chine Surf Lifesaving Club hosted the National Championships on July 27 which celebrates lifesaving through different events.
The courses include beach running, sea swimming, board paddling and surf ski paddling.
Simon Garbett and Mark Ressel were taking a break from working for Icon Surf Skis at the event when they found a male struggling in the water.
One of the paddlers stayed with the swimmer, allowing them to use their craft as a buoyancy aid, while the other alerted the Inflatable Rescue Boat team (IRB).
The IRB were at the scene to conduct event safety and were organised by Aidy Mayhew, who was able to immediately dispatch the team to collect the swimmer.
The swimmer was recovered and passed over to pandemics who said that without the intervention from Mark, Simon, Aidy and his team the male would have almost certainly lost his life.
Around 22 clubs from around the UK competed at Branksome Dene Beach, including adult of all ages and abilities.
Medals were won across board rescue, ski kayak, swim and beach events.
Bude won the masters competition and the home club, Branksome Chine, came in second.
The club’s own Josh Barents, aged 17, was on duty and is representing Great Britain at the Lifesaving World Championships in the National Team IRB Championships event in Australia on September 4.
Also, during the event, two teenage brothers were spotted by the club head coach and volunteer lifeguard, Jon Kane.
The boys were seen getting into difficulty in an inflatable dinghy about 10 metres offshore.
After losing their oar one of the brothers jumped into the water but was unable to retrieve the oar and became tired.
Jon said: “I began to worry and I was on the shoreline having just done some board paddling.”
The second brother then jumped into the water which prompted Jon to go in after them.
He guided the boys to hold onto his board and get back to their dinghy with their oar where they were able to get back to shore.
“They had poor English but we were able to establish that they cannot swim.
“I sent them to their family who are completely oblivious because of poor visibility caused by a groyne.
“The RNLI hut was not open yet.
“It all unfolded so quickly and despite the very calm pleasant conditions, each action they took escalated the risk level and such a simple intervention was needed to recover the situation.”
More information on surf lifesaving can be found on the Branksome Chine Surf Lifesaving club’s website.
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