Early yesterday a 48-year-old man drowned after his dinghy capsized at Swansea, south of Newcastle. Witnesses told police it looked like the man, presumed to be going fishing shortly after 6am, decided to turn back when confronted with giant waves as he reached the sandbar at the Swansea Channel.

Later yesterday morning a 24-year-old man was pulled from the surf at Mystic Beach near Shellharbour on the NSW south coast. Theman was airlifted to Wollongong Hospital in a critical condition but died shortly afterwards.

A sailor from the Pacific island of Tuvalu, 55-year-old Mila Tanu, died after he sustained extensive head injuries when waves washed over the deck of an international coal ship near Newcastle yesterday.

FIVE men have died in wild seas off the NSW coast in separate incidents over the weekend, one of them while trying to rescue two children.

Heavy swells of up to 5m have smashed the coast for several days as a result of a tropical low moving down from Queensland.

On Saturday a 33-year-old English man, who emigrated to Australia only a month ago, drowned at Spoon Bay Beach on the NSW central coast when he and another man tried to rescue two children caught in a rip. Both men were swept out by the ocean but only one survived.

An off-duty lifesaver paddled through heavy seas to the two men, but was unable to hold on to both for more than a few minutes. He managed to get one of them into quieter waters while boats from the local surf club came to their rescue.

Gosford Police Chief Inspector Dave Robinson yesterday described the lifesaver’s efforts as “heroic”. Both children reached the shore uninjured with the help of family and friends and were taken to hospital.

The body of the drowned man, whose name is yet to be released, was found 100m outside the search area less than an hour later.

Also on Saturday, a 79-year-old man from the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla had a suspected heart attack while swimming in heavy surf. Lifeguards rescued the unconscious man but attempts to resuscitate him failed.

Early yesterday a 48-year-old man drowned after his dinghy capsized at Swansea, south of Newcastle. Witnesses told police it looked like the man, presumed to be going fishing shortly after 6am, decided to turn back when confronted with giant waves as he reached the sandbar at the Swansea Channel.

A wave capsized his boat as he tried to turn it around. The body of the Gateshead man was found half an hour later.

Later yesterday morning a 24-year-old man was pulled from the surf at Mystic Beach near Shellharbour on the NSW south coast. Theman was airlifted to Wollongong Hospital in a critical condition but died shortly afterwards.

And a sailor from the Pacific island of Tuvalu, 55-year-old Mila Tanu, died after he sustained extensive head injuries when waves washed over the deck of an international coal ship near Newcastle yesterday.

A second man was airlifted to hospital with broken legs.