Greystones Swimmer’s Dramatic Sea Rescue

For birdwatcher Dick Coombes, today’s stormy weather down on the South Beach meant that he may just spot something a little different skimming those rough waves.

It was 4pm as he took a stroll along the seafront, and his attention was drawn away from the water though by a bunch of construction workers running from St David’s.

With rope in hand, they were headed for the water, where, Dick soon realised, a swimmer was in trouble.

Using his powerful zoom lens, Dick was able to take a closer look. There were two swimmers, “about 60 feet out“, one clearly trying to help the other.

“It was a real struggle,” Dick tells the Guide. “And quite frightening to witness, as the waves and the constant rain made any efforts to bring this person to safety nigh on impossible.”

Fully trained as a lifeguard, 17-year-old Conor Power was the other swimmer, the Coláiste Chraobh Abhann student having dived in as his friend, Ciaran Fox, raised the alarm.

With the coast guards poised at the harbour, soon the gardaí and fire brigade were on the scene too. “It felt like forever as people tried to reach the swimmer,” says Dick, and with the seas too rough to launch a boat, “a Rescue 116 helicopter suddenly appeared.

“To everyone’s relief, they were able to winch this poor woman out of the water,” continues Dick. “There was a growing sense that a rescue may not happen, especially as the storm pulled the person out further, to around 100 feet from shore.

“To see them being airlifted out of that cold water and taken away to safety was a happy sight…”

The woman was flown to St Vincent’s Hospital, where both she and 17-year-old Conor are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

All pics by Dick Coombe.