A helicopter maneuvered into position at a higher-than-usual altitude to keep from blowing Tuiono from the rock, Jensen said. Video then shows the team lower a rescue basket and a first responder pulls Tuiono to safety.
California Highway Patrol spokesman David White said, "It is a total miracle he survived this thing."
Tuiono posted a message on Facebook about how his life had been saved.
He said, "I know now I am meant to be alive.
"Today at the Yuba River the current took me away and into the rapids and waterfalls. I was underwater for what felt like minutes and was thrown around like a rag doll. I washed up onto a rock stomach down and puked immediately. I was on the rock for an hour until search and rescue came and saved me via helicopter.
"My life was saved today thanks to Truckee fire department, Cali fire, and California Highway patrol. I have never had a more humbling experience. There is definitely someone upstairs looking down on me making sure I stay alive."
Tuiono could not immediately be reached for comment, but he told the Reno Gazette-Journal, "I have never had a more humbling experience."
"I got caught in the undertow and was suddenly in rapids. It felt like a roller coaster," he told the newspaper.
He added that the waters were so rough, he lost his sense of direction as he was beaten beneath the surface and could not tell which was up. Then, he said, he was tossed into the rock.
"I held on," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Authorities said that they received a call about a stranded swimmer on a rock in the river and, after searching for about 30 minutes, found Tuiono about 1.5km from the spot where he was swept away. Tuiono suffered some minor scratches and a bump on the head but had no other injuries, said White, public information officer with California Highway Patrol's Valley Division Air Operations.
White said had Tuiono been carried another 6m, he would have fallen down a three-tiered waterfall and "there's no way to make it through that".
After rescuers pulled Tuiono from the water, they had to return to the area for his girlfriend, who had become stranded on a ledge while running along the river trying to find him, White said.
Tuiono replied to a Facebook post from California Highway Patrol about the incident, thanking the rescue team for their efforts.
"I cant express how much I appreciate the effort I seen out of everyone yesterday," he wrote. "Your team as well as the fire departments are literally my heroes."
"We are glad we could help," authorities replied. "Stay safe."
White said Emerald Pools is a popular swimming hole this time of year, but the winter's heavy snowfall and recent heat spell has created an intense runoff that has made the waters unexpectedly rough.
He said that so far in 2017, there have been about 10 drownings in the area covered by CHP's Valley Division Air Operations.
