Big wave surfer Russell Bierke rescued near Port Campbell

SURFING legend Kelly Slater has reportedly helped rescue an emerging star of the sport after he was dumped in big swells off Victoria’s west coast yesterday.

Russell Bierke at the 2016 Red Bull Cape Fear in Sydney.

EMERGING big wave surfer Russell Bierke has been hospitalised after being dumped in large swells off Victoria’s west coast yesterday.

The teenager, from New South Wales, was surfing near Port Campbell in up to 16-foot waves when he fell.

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Surfing legend Kelly Slater as well as Ross Clarke-Jones and Ryan Hipwood pulled Bierke onto a ski and took him to shore, website Swellnet reported.

Bierke is recovering in intensive care at the Warrnambool Base Hospital and is in a stable condition.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said paramedics were called to a “near drowning” in Port Campbell around 1.30pm and transported a man to Warrnambool in a stable condition.

“He was pretty blue, shaken up, and he’d taken in a lot of water,” a witness told Swellnet.

A World Surf League spokesman said the governing body wasn’t aware of the incident that occurred the same day as the Rip Curl Pro men’s final at Bells Beach.

Port Campbell Life Saving Club president Scott McKenzie said there was no patrol at the beach yesterday.

“Our patrols finished on Easter Monday. There’s no paid lifeguards on the beach during the week,” Mr McKenzie said.

“The surfer was lucky enough there was a bunch of other surfers there on jet skis that were able to bring him in, and one of their partners was medically trained and able to assist.”

Some of the professionals were there after being knocked out of the Rip Curl Pro, taking advantage of the “particularly large” swells.