One man is dead and another was in a critical condition last night after large surf dragged more than a dozen helpless swimmers out to sea at Stanwell Park Beach yesterday.
A 63-year-old West Australian man was pronounced dead at the scene while dozens of onlookers and lifeguards made frenzied rescue attempts to save others.
A 20-year-old Sydney man suffered cardiac arrest and was dragged from the water. Paramedics and lifeguards performed CPR on the man for 20 minutes before he was revived.
He was airlifted to St George Hospital where he was last night in a critical condition.
The 63-year-old was at the beach with his family. Lifeguards rescued the man's 30-year-old daughter and wife first, before heading back into the rough water to rescue him.
The daughter was taken to Wollongong Hospital and treated for respiratory distress. She was in a stable condition last night.
A 22-year-old woman, who wasn't with the family, was taken to Sutherland Hospital after swallowing a large amount of seawater.
A 15-year-old Menai girl was flown to the Prince of Wales Hospital and treated for respiratory distress and a neck injury.
It's believed the swimmers were between the red and yellow flags when they were dragged to sea. Initial lifeguard reports suggested that a collapsed sandbank was the reason for the sudden sweeping current.
Lifeguards were forced to pull each swimmer out of the water one by one when the incident occurred shortly before 4pm, as a devastating rip scattered the swimmers at least 50m apart.
It's believed one rescuer was carrying four people back to shore on his board at one point. Most of the stranded swimmers were able to make their own way back to the beach.
Illawarra district ambulance officer Terry Morrow said conditions made rescue attempts extremely hard for crews.
"It was like a multiple scene because all the patients were so far apart ... Everyone did the best they could to get people out of the water but when you've only got limited resources that can be very difficult," he said.
Waves of more than 1m rolled in as paramedics treated the four survivors on the beach.
Captain of the Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Surf Life Saving Club, Matthew White, said conditions on the beach changed suddenly.
"One minute they were knee deep, the next they were in the water," Mr White said.
He said conditions at the beach were rough, but not overly treacherous.
Jenny Dibella was at the beach with her three young children when tragedy struck.
"I was there with my husband keeping an eye on the kids when I looked up and it just happened. Within seconds, dozens of swimmers were just dragged out into the ocean and split up," she said. "It all happened so quickly."
Two ambulance helicopters attended the scene, as well as 10 paramedics and a large team of police and detectives.
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