Students rush to save swimmers struggling in rip at city beach

Year nine students Bonny Albert, Foteini Agrafioti Rapti, Jerry Dixon, Iris Beckel, all 14, and Zoe Graham, 15, were surfing as part of an outdoor education class on March 18, 2024, when they noticed two south-west women and their children, aged six, eight and nine, had became caught in a strong current.

One of the mothers, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were quickly swept out deeper than they could stand.

"Feeling panicked, we called to some students surfing nearby to assist us and without hesitation they responded by alerting their teacher on the beach and swimming to us," she said.

Bonny said she first spotted a young boy and his mother, who was waving her arms in the water.

Zoe said she heard the family screaming for help and looked up to see no one was in the surf lifesaving tower.

She said she couldn't see any whitewash and the water was murky - two telltale signs of a rip.

"I went into flight or fight mode," she said.

"I didn't think 'this is dangerous', I thought 'someone needs to help'."

With a big set of waves coming through, the five students didn't think twice before rushing to the distressed family, using their surfboards to guide them back to shore.

"As we were swimming over to them I thought 'this is serious, it's real," Jerry said.

But the students knew the number one rule of being stuck in a rip was not to panic.

Iris and Foteini said they focused on keeping themselves calm and relaxed throughout the rescue operation.

"We just had to save them," Iris said.

The group had not long taken safety lessons in surfing as part of their outdoor education, which involved recognising and surviving strong currents.

Teacher Stephen Hall said the students were "fantastic".

"They followed the protocols looking after themselves in a rip, using the boards correctly to assist them to shore and they worked together," he said.

Zoe said the family was shaken up but relieved to be on safe ground.

"The mum hugged me, she was nearly bawling her eyes out saying 'thank you, thank you, you - we could have died'," she said.

The mother of the family later expressed her appreciation and gratitude via email to the students and Warrnambool College.

"Their bravery, quick thinking and calm demeanour was outstanding," she said.

"I was quite shaken by the event and they checked in with me again a few minutes after returning us to the beach to check we were all OK.

"They should be incredibly proud of themselves for acting in such a commendable way."

The woman said she was extremely grateful the students were nearby and so quick to respond.

"It was quite frightening for all involved," she said.