IT WAS a scenario that could easily have resulted in tragedy.
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A lone swimmer enters the surf at a closed beach and quickly finds himself in trouble after becoming caught in a rip.
Fortunately, the young man was spotted by surf lifesavers who rushed to his aid on Sunday afternoon.
It is a scene played out far too many times over the summer for those guarding our beaches.
Surf Life Saving NSW rescued almost 4500 people from the water across NSW in the past 12 months.
Of those rescues, 311 occurred in Sutherland Shire, with a further 281 calls made for first aid.
Sutherland Shire Council beach operations manager Brad Whittaker said the rescued man was only a short distance from the shore when he was caught in a rip running parallel to North Cronulla beach.
North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club volunteers pulled him from the water uninjured, but shaken.
Mr Whittaker said the rescue, only a day after the start of the surf patrol season, was a reminder for people to obey beach signs and swim between the flags.
‘‘This is a reminder that the beach can be quite dangerous,’’ he said.
‘‘If people are unsure of the condition of the water they can ask the surf lifesavers on patrol.’’
He said ‘‘no flags, no swim’’ was an easy way to remember that a beach was closed if flags were not displayed.
‘‘Fortunately, the North Cronulla patrol had a fast response and no one was injured,’’ he said.
Sunday’s rescue is one of the first for the surf season, which started on Saturday.
More than 21,000 volunteer surf lifesavers will patrol beaches on weekends and public holidays until April 26 next year.
With last season’s NSW coastal drowning toll at 27, Surf Life Saving NSW is urging beachgoers to swim only at patrolled locations in between the red and yellow flags.
Do you think it's important for people to swim between the flags on patrolled beaches?
