Tourist's drowning prompts warning about dangers of surf

By Alan Mascarenhas
January 10, 2005

The drowning of a Korean man off North Avoca Beach yesterday has prompted fresh claims that tourists do not understand the dangers of the Australian surf.

The 26-year-old teacher had been supervising a group of Korean schoolchildren on an unpatrolled section of the beach when a student struck trouble in heavy waves just before 2.30pm.

The teacher, a poor swimmer, tried to rescue the student but was swept out to sea. His body was found an hour later. The missing student was found alive and later transferred to Gosford Hospital.

Stuart Harvey, the surf lifesaver who co-ordinated the rescue, said communication occurred through "hand signals" until interpreters arrived. "They were distraught, in deep shock, and had to be helped off the beach," he said. "But they were swimming outside the patrolled area. They've just got to get it in their heads - if they swim there, they're going to be in big trouble."

Greg Nance, chief executive officer of Surf Life Saving Australia, said the incident showed "tourists do not understand the dangers of the surf, particularly where they don't have English as their first language".

"Try as hard as we might, about one in five [coastal] drowning victims in Australia is a tourist," he said.

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old man drowned at Dee Why Beach on Saturday.