Family helpless as rip takes swimmer

Papamoa Beach. Photo / Jandhe Troughton

An elderly man due to celebrate his 77th birthday yesterday drowned while his wife and other family members watched helplessly at Tauranga's Papamoa Beach.

The man was caught in a rip on Tuesday just days after paid lifeguards went off duty at the end of their summer season. Another elderly man had to be rescued near the same spot shortly afterwards.

The man who died had been swimming at the beach about 3.30pm when he got into trouble.

He was on holiday from Petone and his wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law could only watch from the shore as people tried to save him.

Local surfer Shane Himpers, 40, noticed the man was in trouble and went to his rescue.

He was joined by swimmer Dan Couper and boogie boarder Blair Dudley, a former surf lifesaver, who reached the drowning man first.

"He was going to the bottom when I got him. He was going under and taking me with him," Mr Himpers said.

The man was at least 60m offshore and had taken in a lot of water.

"While I was swimming towards him his head was under water the whole time. All you could see was his shoulders and back; his head and legs were completely submerged.

"It was a pretty heinous rip. It was fairly shifty and strong. We struggled to get him in," Mr Himpers said.

Once ashore, the men spent about 20 minutes doing CPR until an ambulance arrived from Te Puke, but after five minutes he was pronounced dead.

Soon after, a 73-year-old man had to be rescued less than 50m away. A member of the public swam out to help the tiring man, who couldn't stand up in the strong undertow.

The 73-year-old was unhurt but said he wouldn't have been able to make it to shore without help.

- APN