An off-duty policewoman saved a girl from drowning in Dunedin yesterday.
Senior Sergeant Craig Brown, of Dunedin, said a girl, aged about 10 or 11, was caught in a rip at Tomahawk Beach about 6pm yesterday.
An off-duty Dunedin constable, who saw the girl was "in trouble'', swam out and rescued her.
The girl's father, aged in his mid-40s, was also caught in a rip and was saved by another person with the constable.
"They were lucky there were others at the beach, who managed to get out and bring them back in safely,'' Snr Sgt Brown said.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand Otago and Southland club support officer Sam Clutterbuck said lifeguards in three inflatable boats rushed from St Kilda Beach and St Clair Beach to Tomahawk Beach.
The father and daughter had been saved before the lifeguards arrived.
Mr Clutterbuck understood the father had tried to save his daughter from the rip but was also dragged out.
A St John spokeswoman said an ambulance attended Tomahawk Beach yesterday but nobody was taken to hospital.
Despite the hot weather prompting several hundred people to swim at Dunedin beaches yesterday, lifeguards were not called on to make rescues.
