Leszek Puchala, 52, got caught in a riptide while swimming at Sea Palling, just north of Great Yarmouth, on Saturday.
An inquest at Norfolk Coroner's Court in Norwich heard attempts were made to rescue him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Coroner Jacqueline Lake said he had been visiting from Poland.
Mr Puchala, who lived in Malyszyn Gorny, had been staying with his son Sebastian. His son identified his body to police at the beach.
A post-mortem examination at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital gave the cause of death as drowning.
The hearing was adjourned for a full inquest at the Norfolk Coroner's Court on 28 October.
The coastguard said the incident unfolded after a group of swimmers got into difficulty in a riptide.
Mr Puchala was pulled unconscious from the waves and could not be revived, while a second man in his 20s was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and was understood to be in a stable condition.
Neil Ramsay, 44, of Norwich, was at the beach and tried to rescue the swimmers.
He said there was a Polish family who were shouting in Polish, but as he did not understand the language it was almost three minutes before he realised their shouts were of panic.
He said he wished he had realised and gone to help sooner.
"It would be great to have a universal cry for help," he added.
Norfolk Police also issued safety advice in light of the beach tragedy.
A swimmer who drowned off the coast of Norfolk was on holiday visiting his son, an inquest has heard.