Aaron Burgess will have to take his kids for a swim another day.
It is a promise he plans to keep, after he had to leave his two preschoolers in the care of strangers to dive into wild surf at Tomahawk Beach and save a life yesterday.
Mr Burgess (37), a former Otago footballer and pool lifeguard, was taking daughter Ruby (4) and son Max (2) for a walk at the beach when a woman rushed up to say her friend was caught in a rip.
The woman's friend, aged in her 50s, was struggling to stay afloat in large breaking waves 100m offshore, after being knocked over and dragged out to sea, he said.
Other people on the beach were not confident enough to swim to the woman, so Mr Burgess made a split-second decision to help.
"I looked to the lady next to me and said ‘Look, just watch the kids for me. I'm going to have to go in here'.
"I couldn't think of anything worse than standing there watching someone in trouble and not at least having an attempt at doing something,'' he said.
Mr Burgess swam out to the woman, fighting a "pretty nasty'' rip and exhaustion to reach her.
He managed to calm the "panicking'' woman while keeping his distance, to avoid being dragged down by her, and told her to float on her back.
He used "all my strength'' to swim back towards the beach, pulling her with him, fighting the rip and waves on the way in.
He managed to touch the ground at one point, only to get pulled back into deeper water by the rip, and briefly lost his grip on the woman before grabbing her again.
"At one point I put my hand up and said ‘I'm going to need some help here as well', but I managed to keep fighting it.''
The pair made it to shore after about 10 minutes, helped by Kyren Zimmerman, who swam out to help.
"I was just absolutely shattered. She had taken on a lot of water, but at least we got her back to the beach. She had no energy - she couldn't stand up,'' Mr Burgess said.
Mr Zimmerman (25), an underwater cameraman from Montana, said he raced to his car to gather a wetsuit and flippers when the alarm was raised, while Mr Burgess took to the water.
He returned to the beach and helped the exhausted pair in, and later had nothing but praise for Mr Burgess' actions.
"With surf that high, and that rough, it was a truly heroic feat just to get to her.
"He certainly made the sacrifice to go in and help. It was a pretty amazing feat.''
Emergency services and St Clair surf life-savers arrived minutes later.
The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter and water rescue squad were scrambled after those on shore lost sight of the pair and feared both had been swept out to sea.
Search and rescue co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, of Dunedin police, said Mr Burgess' efforts yesterday were "monumental''.
"I think he's most definitely saved a life ... this woman was extremely lucky that the right guy was in the right place at the right time.''
But he also sounded a note of caution, urging other swimmers to stay within their limits.
"We could well have lost two lives today ... he put himself in considerable danger.
"We don't want to try and encourage too many people to do what he's done, because the next one might not get away with it.''
A St John spokesman said the woman was taken to Dunedin Hospital, with minor injuries, for checks.
Mr Burgess said saving someone's life "certainly makes you feel good'', but he was doing only what he hoped others would.
"You always hope, if that was you in that situation, people would help you out.''
He had thought of his children as he swam out to the woman, "but really the first thing on my mind was trying to get to her''.
"I could just see her struggling and you just think, ‘I've got to get to her'.''
His children were "fine'' afterwards, despite their father's ordeal.
"They just said ‘daddy went for a swim and we didn't get to go'.''
