A 68-year-old German woman who was visiting family on the Sunshine Coast died on Saturday after being pulled from the water at north Peregian Beach.
Coolum police said family members were on the beach when the woman went swimming about 7.15am outside the flagged area.
She was dumped by a wave and got caught in a rip, they said.
“There was a surfboard rider who did a wonderful job of trying to rescue her,“ police said. “At that stage she was able to throw her arm over his board.“
The board rider managed to bring the woman back to the beach where police and paramedics assisted, providing CPR before transferring her to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
“She was still alive when they took her to SCUH but passed away later in the day,“ police said.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and a coroner was preparing a report on her death.
The woman is the second person to drown outside the flagged areas of Peregian-Marcus Beach in the past year.
Police appealed to swimmers, particularly tourists unfamiliar with beach conditions, to only swim between the flags.
“It happens way too often. The problem is the wide open beaches are all very dangerous,“ police said. “It’s just tragic.“
