26 July 2025

Port to Pub race becomes race to save life

The 2023 Port to Pub swim turned into more than just another day on the water for volunteer race officials David Hobbs, Simon Delestang and Taryn Delestang.

After swimming for eight hours, a solo swimmer named Andrew began showing signs of distress. His stroke was slow, he was disorientated, and his skin was turning blue. Andrew’s crew were unsure of his condition, so Taryn jumped in and swam to him.

“I ran the risk that Andy (not that I knew his name at the time) may tell me ‘where to go’ and to let him finish the race. As it turns out, that was not the case,” says Taryn.

As Taryn guided Andrew back to his support kayak, he lost consciousness and started to sink. Simon promptly called Sea Rescue, who arrived within minutes, while David assisted in lifting Andrew onto their boat and began CPR, continuing while Sea Rescue arrived from Rottnest

Thanks to their swift actions and coordination, Andrew regained a pulse after a further 40 minutes of intense effort. He was transported to Fiona Stanley Hospital, where he recovered from hypothermia, pulmonary oedema, and a heart attack.

For their actions, David, Simon and Taryn were each awarded a Royal Life Saving Gold Medallion Bravery Award. David and Taryn received their awards at a Bravery Awards ceremony in Perth last October, however Simon was not able to attend on the day.

Andrew and his wife remain profoundly grateful for the heroic actions of David, Simon and Taryn, and to everyone involved in saving Andrew’s life.

Being experienced swimmers themselves and having regular training in first aid and CPR certainly helped, but nothing truly prepares you for such a confronting and stressful situation. Taryn, David and Simon each showed tremendous professionalism and courage.

“Given we were 17km out to sea, close to Rotto but still in the middle of the ocean, I completely understand why anyone may hesitate to do a rescue,” said Taryn. “I guess I just trusted my instincts and went into autopilot mode.”

Simon agreed, saying “Never be ashamed to just jump in and help if you think there is an issue. We were there, we were the most experienced and we could see Andy was in a very poor state. I am honoured and thankful we were able to save him.”

Taryn credits her prior training and experience, saying “it certainly helps with your decision-making process if you know how to do a rescue and are first aid trained.”

“It’s really important to have some type of first aid training so you can be a competent first responder, empowering you to make good decisions. It could be a family member or stranger you are saving. I hope people will hear our story and get some type of first aid training; you never know when you may be put into this position. In our situation this 100 percent saved Andy’s life, and it is an incredible experience knowing you have been able to save someone’s life.”

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If this story has inspired you and you’d like to take Taryn’s advice to get some first aid training, you can find available courses here.