Friends tried to save victim swept away by rip

As Jarrett Simeon was rapidly dragged out to sea by a harsh rip at a notorious swimming beach, his best friends started swimming desperately to save him.

Instead they got into trouble themselves, then watched helplessly as he drifted out of sight, and disappeared under water.

Mr Simeon, 27, a Feilding meatworker, had been swimming at Himatangi Beach at 2pm on Saturday when he and his girlfriend, Morgan McKay, started getting into difficulty.

Two friends, Carlos Caesar and Te Piwa Riwai, swam out to Ms McKay, helping her stay afloat while a surfer came to their rescue. A third friend, Nathan McClutchie, ran to alert life guards.

Police said all had been swimming away from the patrolled area on a beach with a notorious reputation for drownings.

More than 100 rescuers, family and friends then scoured the beach through the night until 5.50am yesterday when Mr Simeon’s body was found.

Palmerston North Surf Club patrol captain David Pontin said the swimmers were about 800m outside the flags and lifeguards were not watching them when they became distressed. The ocean floor dropped away suddenly in that area, causing a small rip and an undertow.

Holes formed and closed underwater on a weekly basis, and since patrols had started at the beginning of December, the flags had moved multiple times in response to the changing conditions.

The death was at least the fourth in the area in eight years.

In September 2011, a 35-year-old Palmerston North beneficiary drowned at the beach after going swimming after a heavy drinking binge. Japanese student Masaru Otake, 20, drowned while swimming with fellow students from Palmerston North’s International Pacific College in January 2005. A year before that 37-year-old Brent Flavell of Riwaka died while trying to save his 7-year-old son.