KEY POINTS:
A man plunged into Lake Taupo to free a swimmer whose body was wedged between rocks as the waves washed over his head.
Police say Jack Gower's actions saved the man's life.
Mr Gower was pottering around the house when wife Margie heard cries for help around 2pm yesterday.
The couple scampered to the lakeshore from their home on Whakamoenga Point in Acacia Bay.
They found a man gasping for breath as two teenage girls desperately attempted to wrench his body out of the water, where he was firmly entrenched between an outcrop of rocks.
He was far bigger than the girls and they were all "utterly exhausted", Mr Gower said.
Mr Gower did not hesitate to jump in the lake and hold the man's head above the water for 15 minutes while he tried to free his jammed leg.
Senior Constable Mark Bond of Taupo Search and Rescue said Mr Gower's actions would have saved the man's life.
It was a rough day on the lake - the prevailing wind was blowing straight in to the point and this may have been why the man tried to drag himself out of the water and on to the rocks.
"I don't know how it happened. He had obviously got in a distressed state and tried to get out and his legs got stuck in the rocks," Mr Gower said.
While a boy ran for help, Mr Gower managed to lie the man's head on a flat area of rock to stop him swallowing water.
By the time the first paramedic arrived, Mr Gower had pulled him as far as he could out of the water.
"He was barely able to talk. He was absolutely exhausted."
Mr Gower said the girls did a fantastic job of holding the man's body out of the water and constantly yelling for help before he arrived.
The Youthtown Rescue Helicopter transported the swimmer to Taupo Hospital, where he was treated for cuts, bruises and exhaustion.
He was discharged later in the afternoon.
The man is believed to be a local social worker in his 40s.
