A north Island man in his 30s nearly drowned in the Clutha River at Albert Town yesterday afternoon.
Constable Greg Nolet, of Wanaka, said the man, his partner and their two young children were on the small island upstream of the Albert Town Bridge before the incident, ''having a wee swim''.
The man told his partner he planned to cross the river.
She understood he would walk across the bridge. However, he set out to swim.
Const Nolet said the man got to a bridge pylon in mid-stream but was tiring when he set out to continue his swim to the far shore.
''He got himself into a bit of difficulty, was tired, and he started to go under.''
Const Nolet was uncertain as to how the man got to shore, and believed he might have been rescued by a bystander.
When police, the Wanaka Fire Brigade and St John ambulance arrived, the man was on the river bank but needed medical treatment.
''It was a very close call,'' Const Nolet said.
''He's underestimated the cold of the river, the flow and his abilities.''
Although there had been rain in the past week, Const Nolet did not consider the river especially high for this time of year.
St John communications adviser Ian Henderson said St John was called at 3pm and he described the incident as a ''near drowning''.
The man was taken to the Wanaka Lakes Health Centre. Queenstown Lakes District Council harbourmaster Marty Black was not aware of the incident late yesterday but said it illustrated how dangerous the Clutha could be.
Several weeks ago, two people were rescued from a kayak after being ''pinned'' against one of the bridge pylons, he said.
