Despite frantic efforts, rescuers were unable to revive a 35-year-old Palmerston North man who drowned after getting caught up in metre-high swells on a west coast surf beach.
The man had been swimming with family and friends on Himatangi Beach, about 17km northwest of Foxton, when he got into difficulty in the incoming tide, with swells ranging from half a metre to a metre high.
Police and two members of the Palmerston North surf life saving club found the man unconscious in murky water about 100m offshore.
Surf life savers and Foxton Beach Coastguard members performed CPR and the volunteer fire brigade provided a defibrillator, but their efforts were unable to revive the man.
The man's name has not been released and the death has been referred to the coroner.
