Abandoned items on Sydney beach spark ocean search

Just 12 hours after a young man’s body was found off a Sydney beach, helicopters were again searching the waters after a local made a concerning find by the water.

Just 12 hours after a young man’s body was found on Sydney’s northern beaches, helicopters were again searching the waters after items left on a beach caused serious concern.

Another search and rescue operation was launched on Sunday evening at Manly Beach after an unclaimed surfboard and personal belongings were discovered on the sand.

The Manly Daily reported the items were discovered and reported to police around 9:15pm, sparking a coordinated effort from multiple agencies to locate the owner.

Emergency services combed manly Beach and surrounding waters for any signs of distress after shoes and a surfboard were found on the sand. Picture: Luke Gavahan/ @lukegavahanmedia

The NSW Police Force, NSW Ambulance, Surf Life Saving NSW, the Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter, and Polair all reportedly combed the beach and surrounding waters for any signs of distress.

The search continued for over an hour before both helicopters were stood down at 10:30pm.

The search happened just 12 hours after a young man’s body was found in the water off nearby Freshwater Bay. Picture: Luke Gavahan/ @lukegavahanmedia

Despite an extensive search, no one was found in the water.

After viewing CCTV, the NSW Police concluded that the surfboard and personal items were left behind by a large group of people who left the beach earlier in the evening.

The search was cancelled after a review of CCTV. Picture: Luke Gavahan/ @lukegavahanmedia

Police reportedly claimed the surfboard and other items as lost property and took them to the Manly police station.

NSW Police Force claimed the surfboard as lost property. Picture: Jim O'Rourke (Manly Daily)

The brief search came just twelve hours after authorities recovered the body of 18-year-old Ivan Korolev, who went missing while swimming at nearby Freshwater Beach.

At 9.25am Sunday, his body was recovered 500m from shore.

Ivan’s heartbroken mother, Anna Zolotukhina, said he was adored by his two younger siblings and had dreams of going to university, successfully enrolling in a sport and fitness course at the Australian Catholic University.

18-year-old boy Ivan Korolev drowned at Freshwater Beach.

“He was one of the strongest and the nicest person I’ve ever known,” Ms Zolotukhina said.

“He just graduated Mosman High …. he was an avid parkour athlete.”

“Had a lot of friends and (two) of them were swimming with him that day.”

Ms Zolotukhina said her son was happiest when he was outdoors.

“He did exercise every day. Was doing martial arts from the age of five,” she said.

Surf Life Saving NSW says the tragic drowning on Saturday night at Freshwater brought the total coastal drownings to 41 for NSW since 1 July – 28 of which occurred during summer, which is a record high.

A spokeswoman from Surf Life Saving NSW told news.com.au there were other rescue operations over the weekend on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

“Sunday night at 7pm at Dee Why beach, another five young people were rescued by off duty surf lifesavers from Dee Why SLSC who were caught in a rip near the southern end of the beach,” she said.

Five young people were rescued by off-duty surf lifesavers from Dee Why SLSC on Sunday night. Picture: David Swift

“They were unfamiliar with the strong current that usually runs next to the rock pool.

“Coming off the worst ever summer for coastal drownings, our volunteer lifesavers and lifeguards have a very simple message for potential beachgoers ahead of predicted hot temperatures across the state over the next few days – if you head to the coastline to cool off, make sure you visit a patrolled location and swim between the red and yellow flags.”

Thousands are expected to flood Sydney beaches as the mercury soars into the mid-to-high 30s for much of the greater Sydney region on Monday.