By Brendan Rees
A fun day at the beach could have turned distressful for a Cranbourne four-year-old last weekend.
The girl was in a floaty ring when her dad, who was swimming next to her had become fatigued about 200 metres from the shore at Carrum beach at midday on Sunday, 28 January.
Carrum surf lifesaver Shane Rowley said he was paddling on his board when he sighted the girl and her dad.
The man was trying to swim both of them out to a nearby speed limit sign that is used for boats, he said.
“Dad decided he was going to swim out there and drag this young girl with him in the floaty ring.”
“But before he got out there the tide and the wind were blowing away,” Mr Rowley said.
“Because I was out there I had a chat to him and said he wasn’t getting closer and you could see he was getting a bit fatigued.”
Mr Rowley then offered the man’s daughter to jump on his rescue board and paddle her back to the shore.
“He just swam himself in so he just had to concentrate about himself so that’s what he did.”
“Dad got himself a little more out of his depth in the sense of what he thought he could do.”
Mr Rowley said the girl was safe and “oblivious to everything” as she had not moved from the floaty ring.
“It is a rescue so I had to bring her on the board and bring her in to make sure he was fine and safe.”
“It could’ve been worse. If he had of continued to drag the young girl who knows,” he said.
“It was a lot more of know your limitations.”
Mr Rowley said the pair continued to enjoy their beach day.
Over the long weekend lifesavers recorded 9,400 visitors to Carrum beach during patrol hours, nearly half of those being on Sunday.
With temperatures exceeding 40 degrees on Sunday, the volunteers extended patrols to be 10.30am to 8.45pm.
Lifesavers were called to assist with a first aid before patrols had even begun on Australia Day – assisting a man with a dislocated/fractured toe.
In total lifesavers had four first aid cases, the others included a woman who had crushed her fingers in the electric sunroof of a car and a girl who grazed her leg after falling down the rocks at Patterson River.
“Every preventative action is a potential rescue averted, and every rescue is a potential drowning averted,” said Carrum Surf Lifesaving Club Patrol Captain, Charlie Barton.
