Three men were in the water for nearly two hours while rescuing a swimmer in rough seas off Blairgowrie surf beach on Wednesday.
Police have been told the Hampton Park man entered the water, near the Hughes Road surf beach, while his wife set up their belongings about 4.15pm.
A short time later the woman noticed she couldn’t see her husband in the water and raised the alarm.
The 56-year-old man was then sighted about 500m off shore in rough conditions, drifting further out to sea.
Three men aged in their 20s, from Kew, Armadale and Rosebud West, entered the water on two boards and with a flotation device in an attempt to rescue the man.
The trio caught up to the man about 600m out and managed to get him onto a board, tackling rough seas for nearly two hours before courageously bringing him to shore.
Local police were on scene together with ambulance paramedics who attended to the man before he was taken to hospital, suffering from the cold.
