St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club senior lifeguard Cameron Third said five lifeguards from the club were at the beach yesterday, painting and tidying up the clubhouse ahead of the season opening on Saturday, when they were called into action.
A group of five swimmers were rescued after becoming stuck in a rip about 3pm.
Another four people were rescued from the same rip during the next two hours.
''That's probably the most rescues we've had to do in one day outside of the season,'' Mr Third said.
Nobody required medical attention.
''They were very lucky to have off-duty lifeguards hanging around the surf club painting and getting ready for the season to kick off on Saturday,'' Mr Third said.
It seemed those rescued were making the most of the warm weather and were looking for a calm spot for a swim, he said.
''They probably just weren't aware enough of the surf conditions and ended up being dragged into the rip.''
If the swimmers had got into trouble a couple of hours earlier or on another day they might not have been so lucky, he said.
''They're also pretty lucky we had enough people there to perform a mass rescue because it would have been pretty hard with just one or two of us.''
From this Saturday until the end of March lifeguards will be on duty from noon until 7pm each weekend.
During the school holidays, paid lifeguards will also patrol the beach from Monday to Friday.
''Beach-goers need to be more vigilant around the surf environment and if they aren't sure how to identify a rip they should ask lifeguards on duty or somebody who is aware of the surf environment,'' Mr Third said.
St Kilda club members were also called to assist St Clair lifeguards on Tuesday night after a boat with six people on board had mechanical issues while off the St Clair cliffs.
They were taken back to Tomahawk Beach.
''It's been a busy couple of days for us actually, which is a bit unusual for the off-season, but we're ready for Saturday now,'' he said.
