Supplied
This aerial picture provided by Nelson harbourmaster Stuart Whitehouse shows the location of the two rescued swimmers.
Two swimmers were rescued in Tasman Bay on Saturday afternoon, with one then taken to hospital, Nelson harbourmaster Stuart Whitehouse said.
He said they received a call from police search and rescue near midday to assist with locating two swimmers “in trouble” between Fifeshire Rock and Haulashore Island.
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Whitehouse said the swell was “quite significant” when they were called out.
“We were very close. So we were there in a couple of minutes. There was one swimmer who had climbed onto a navigation structure.
“And then we found out that there was another person that they had lost sight of. They were together and they got separated,” Whitehouse said.
Supplied
This picture provided by the Nelson harbourmaster shows the navigation structure where one of the swimmers was rescued from.
He said the second swimmer was “near a state of drowning when we approached”.
“Quiet, weakened state and head slipping quietly underwater. Drowning does not look like it does in the movies,” he said. “There was real potential for a drowning, we don’t think the person would have been far away from being in real trouble.”
The alarm was raised by a friend of the swimmers who was on the beach and by the Nelson Stand-Up Paddle Club.
“They were on Tahunanui Beach and updated the police with the position of the swimmers.
“So it was a great community effort to rescue these people,” Whitehouse said.
A post on Facebook by the Nelson Harbour Master page said an “awesome” boogie foiler “had come across the second swimmer” and was able to assist.
Hato Hone St John spokesperson Siobhan Campbell confirmed one person was taken to Nelson Hospital in a moderate condition.