Lucky escape for swimmers off Point Lonsdale after surf lifesavers training nearby came to their rescue

There was life-and-death drama off Point Lonsdale on Saturday when 17 lucky ocean swimmers caught in a treacherous rip were rescued by surf lifesavers who happened to be training nearby.

Distressed Point Lonsdale locals watch on as emergency responders rush to the aid of swimmers and kayakers caught in a rip on Saturday afternoon.

There was life-and-death drama off Point Lonsdale around noon Saturday when 17 lucky ocean swimmers were rescued from rough seas after surf lifesavers who happened to be training nearby were called on to save them.

The group was swimming from a sheltered bay near the Point Lonsdale shops around the pier towards the lighthouse when sharp winds and high seas hit them at the mouth of the notoriously treacherous rip.

Conditions worsened so fast that three kayakers “riding shotgun” with the group could not help the struggling swimmers.

“About 100 metres off the end of the pier they got caught in the vortex of the ebb tide and were sucked out,” one observer said.

But a call to Triple 0 by concerned watchers on shore alerted six members of Pt Lonsdale Surf Lifesaving Club who were teaching a bunch of trainees how to use their inflatable rescue boats to pluck people out of the water.

Minutes later, they gave a real-life demonstration of how to do it, speeding several hundred metres east from their ocean beach site to reach the swimmers and kayakers in time to avert tragedy.

Surf lifesavers who happened to be training nearby came to the swimmers aid.

By the time three rescue helicopters and larger craft arrived at the scene, the lifesavers had pulled off a copybook rescue in increasingly dangerous conditions to bring in at least a dozen of the 17 distressed swimmers.

“They did an amazing job,” said Amenah McDonald, Director of Lifesaving at nearby Ocean Grove and a veteran of many seasons of emergency response and patrols.

Ms McDonald singled out Pt Lonsdale club captain Jess Robinson and former club captain Andrew Taylor for praise but they were having none of it.

“It was a complete team effort by all our volunteers,” Ms Robinson said.

But she conceded the swimmers were in luck because the rescue exercise they were doing on Saturday is one of only two training weekends held each year.

If there is such a thing as a good time to get into trouble in the surf at Pt Lonsdale, this was it.

Police, ambulance, the coast guard and pilot boats all rushed to the carpark overlooking the pier next to the landmark lighthouse.

Three helicopters turned out, the Westpac rescue chopper and one each from the police and ambulance services. Police and ambulances also rushed to the scene by road, anticipating casualties.

“They should all buy lottery tickets,” said one concerned watcher of the swimmers, some of them Port Melbourne “ice bergers”.

“The people who run the swim were assuring everyone it was a freak thing but I’m amazed anyone went near the rip this morning.

“One poor girl, the fastest swimmer, was way ahead and got sucked out a long way on her own. She was still crying with relief two hours later, she got such a scare.

“It was so rough in the rip that the coast guard followed yachts out this morning two hours before the swim started.”

Originally published as Lucky escape for swimmers off Point Lonsdale after surf lifesavers training nearby came to their rescue